Time To Do It Again
by BlackWidow55
Summary: After taking the killing curse in the forest Harry and Dumbledore have a different conversation. A choice to do it again and hopefully do it better. No ships yet. First story so don't be too harsh. ABANDONED. UP FOR ADOPTION.
1. Chapter 1  Conversations

"Avada Kadavra"

Harry woke up in a dark room wondering what happened after the killing curse hit him. He wondered what the afterlife was like but this just seemed like a big letdown.

"Hello Harry" walking toward him was Albus Dumbledore seemingly out of nowhere.

"I'm so proud of you my boy. You did everything that was asked of you and so much more. I was sent here to give you a chance to experience everything all over again."

Harry thought to himself, 'why would he even think I would consider this? He had accepted his fate and they want him to do it all over again just to end up in the same place?

"Sir, I mean no disrespect but I'm done, I gave them a chance to finally end it and I just want to be with my family again. Why would you think that I would say yes after everything I went through to get here?"

The headmaster smiled sadly at him and responded, "This is exactly why Harry, you did everything that was asked of you, for the ones you love but never got a chance to fully live and enjoy it. What is being offered to you is a chance to go back to your 8th birthday. A chance to free Sirius and have a better childhood than the one I gave you. Get to experience what a real childhood is like." Here the Headmaster stopped and gave him a penetrating gaze.

"I want you to understand my boy, that although there are many positives you have to know that there are things that you cannot change no matter how much you wish you could. There are key points in your life that have to be experienced, hardships that need to be experienced, and tests that need to be taken."

"I'm not sure I completely understand sir." Although he was initially set against it, the chance to live some of his life with Sirius, was something he wasn't sure he could turn down.

"There are events in your life that you can change but cannot avoid. You might choose to be a Ravenclaw and study and be better prepared. A Hufflepuff and play the underdog so that you may be underestimated and can surprise your enemy. Maybe go to Slytherin and change a few perspectives there and save a few children from going to the dark. You may choose Gryffindor and remain with your friends and the life you know and just improve on it. Most events that happened in your school years must happen but you can avoid unnecessary danger. The sorcerer's stone rescue must happen because without it Voldemort might come to power sooner, it is necessary for you to banish him so the timeline can stay in place. In your second year you must slay the basilisk and retrieve the sword so it can be used later but you can try and avoid some people getting petrified. In order to free Sirius you will have to somehow make a trip to Gringotts, there will be a letter from your parents to you stating that Peter was the real secret keeper. Peter must remain in Hogwarts until your third year so the resurrection can happen as it happened in your time. The tournament must happen and you must end up in the graveyard whether you take Cedric Diggory or not. You can try and be as prepared so that hopefully some things can be prevented but understand that you are not a God and not everything will turn out as you wish it would. Now here is the most important part Harry. The battle in the Department of Mysteries must happen, without it Fudge might not acknowledge Voldemort's return and many more lives can be lost. Before the battle you may inform Sirius and only Sirius of what you know and what must be done. You can make an effort together to try and avoid his death but acknowledge the fact that it may happen. Once this battle occurs you are free to make any choices you wish."

Harry just listened to everything gobsmacked. This seemed too surreal, but how could he not go back? He could try and save Cedric, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Moody, and Dumbledore himself. So many lives lost that should have been there to see the day Voldemort fall. Be able to live without the fear of Riddle terrorizing the world they live in.

"What about the horcrux in me sir, will I be able to go back just to have to die again? Will you know any of this in the new timeline?" Harry asked.

"No my boy the horcrux in you is gone. When he takes your blood in him it will form a connection much like the one before that will allow you to be connected and have visions but will only exist in the blood you share. If either dies the connection will be lost. You will still have the abilities that originally were transferred over, these will remain with you always. And no I will not know of any of the new timeline. I must warn you to be patient and please understand that although I have and will make many mistakes with you I've never done them to intentionally harm you. I always did what I thought was best. It pained me greatly that I wronged you so many times in effort to help the greater good.

While Harry was contemplating this Dumbledore spoke again. "Also Harry you must know that you will experience what you magic should have been without the Horcrux."

"What do you mean sir?" said Harry.

"My boy, while the Horcrux didn't actively change you too much, it still managed to suppress some of your magic. Not by an insane amount but the dark part of it tainted your soul which was innately untarnished and pure. Constantly warring at each other didn't let you reach your full potential. By never having a Horcrux in you it will allow your magic to develop more than it originally had. Use your time wisely my boy, you'll have three years before starting Hogwarts in which you may want to develop wandless magic. You won't be a master but hopefully you'll be able to achieve some basic spells and you can continue to do so even after starting Hogwarts. While you should study some more obscure branches of magic also go back to the basics. You missed a lot of basic concepts because you never fully studied to your potential. Make sure and develop your Occlumency before you reach Hogwarts because you have a lot of secrets that can't be divulged to anyone until you are ready to do so."

"I'll do it sir" Harry said with tears in his eyes. "I'll make it better"

And with that everything went dark and Harry knew no more.


	2. Chapter 2 Getting Started

Disclaimer: I forgot to add that everything you recognize belongs to JK Rowling.

I'm trying to be original but if I accidentally copy something please let me know and I'll change it. I've read a lot of these stories and sometimes things stick to you.

Harry woke up disoriented and feeling a bit awkward in his own body.

"Bloody hell it actually happened." He took some time to orient himself to his surroundings and to compartmentalize his conversation with Dumbledore and what it meant now.

It was bizarre being back in his eight year old malnourished and weak body. At seventeen he was not big by any standards but he was comfortable. Now he felt scrawny and laughed at having his knobby knees once again. He opened the door and snuck into the kitchen to see the date on the calendar. "Wow, it's my birthday, when they said eight they meant right on the dot."

Knowing he had a few hours before anyone got up he decided to get some of his thinking done out here. He wasn't too fond of small spaces anymore since his original days in the cupboard. While being able to deal with it he much preferred being out in the open.

Harry figured he should take a note from Hermoine's book and make a list of things needing to be done soon.

1. Get Sirius free. (work with goblins?)

Find a way to Gringotts for the letter without everybody finding out I was there.

2. Go to Flourish & Botts

Books on

Wandless Magic

Occlumency

Animagi

Beginner and introductory books on basic concepts of Wizarding Life

3. Get decent clothes.

4. Figure out about Nutrient potions and growth potions.

5. Correct eyesight (Magical or muggle)if not look into contacts.

6. Get a pouch like Hagrid's.

Harry figured this was good for now. Getting Sirius free as soon as possible was essential but he knew that once he did he would be monitored more closely. If he could get the goblins to start the process it would give him a few weeks to get other stuff done before others started taking an interest in him. He knew that under Sirius's care he wouldn't be denied books but questions would arise for the advanced ones. Introductory books would help cover up slips that he knew were bound to happen. The clothes and nutrient potions were just so that he wouldn't look so weak. He was always self-conscious about his size and wondered if there was something in the wizarding world like vitamins that could help out a still developing child. He was almost positive there was and hopefully he could be a little healthier by the time others came for him. While his glasses never bothered him he wanted to be able to show off his eyes, if this was the one trait he carried strongly from his mother he wanted to be able to show them off. Remind people that he's half Evan's as well as Potter (mainly Snape). The pouch would help hide all these things from others, there would be too many questions he was not yet ready to answer. The nutrient potions would end but the books would have to be kept hidden until someone else introduced him to certain topics and he had a valid reason to have them.

It was an hour before breakfast so he figured that for now he should plan on what to do once in Gringotts. Luckily the Goblins were discreet as long as money was involved. This lessened his fear that the information of his return to the magical world would leak out before he was ready. Going to Diagon Alley would be easy enough and once the questions started about how he found his way to the magical world he would say he found a random stranger who recognized him, one thing led to another and he was introduced to the Leaky Cauldron. While a little sketchy he knew he could work around that and then play the part of a scared child if too many questions were asked. Getting out of Privet Drive for the day maybe night would be an issue though. He had no real friends he could use as an excuse of sleeping over at. Then it came to him, if he said that a custodian at school needed a helper for a couple days with pay and asked Harry, his relatives would agree to it. Of course they would take "his earnings" but he should be able to go without much of a fuss.

With that done he started making breakfast. About half way through his aunt came down. Let him know she was going to wake up Vernon and Dudley and to make sure he had breakfast ready.

As they were sitting on the table Harry decided to finally speak up,

"Uncle Vernon"

"What do you want boy" his uncle grunted.

Harry thought about his phrasing once more and finally said "A custodian at school approached me and said that he needed some help cleaning houses and wanted to know if I was willing to help out. It's supposed to be for the day but might run into two. He's willing to pay me 15 pounds a day but he told me to ask you first. He also said if I do a good job he'll hire me for a few odds and ends throughout the summer." He decided to add the extra at end in case he needed a reason to go out again.

"Hmm… yes you can, and make sure you work hard. It's about time you started paying us back for all the generosity we've shown you throughout the years. Make sure it's for both days and I'll let you keep 5 pounds."

"Yes uncle" harry said meekly. "Would it be possible for you to drive me to London?"

"Fine, fine but now its 3 pounds"

And so the plan was set in motion…

Before leaving he pocketed an old bandana from Aunt Petunia. Once in London, he wrapped the bandana around his forehead and hair. He wished he could've concealed himself a little better but this is all he had to work with. Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible he made his way through the Leaky Cauldron. It appeared as if luck was on his side as he reached the wall just as someone else was passing through. Once on the other side he made his way to Gringotts blending in with the crowd as much as he could.

Walking up to the teller he asked the goblin if he could speak to someone privately. He pulled up the fringe on his forehead before the goblin could respond. After the customary glance at his scar he was led into a private room.

"Mr. Potter what do you wish to discuss?" Another goblin asked as he stepped in.

"Yes well, I don't have my key at the moment but wished to access my vaults. I need your assistance in another matter as well but I wish to know that everything will be kept private" Harry said as polite as possible but getting down to the point knowing that the goblins valued that. He figured he might as well try and get in their good graces so that when the time came there might be an easier way of acquiring the horcrux.

"All matters that go on in Gringotts are kept private Mr. Potter." The goblin looked offended. _Well that wasn't the right thing to say, really need to look into Goblin customs…_ "First matters first, would you like me to recall your key or just temporary access without it?"

Harry thought about it. "Just temporary access for now but a pouch that can hold a reasonably sized amount and some muggle money as well."

"Well we'll need a drop of your blood so we can see your identity and to which vaults you have rights to." said the goblin. Harry was uneasy giving his blood to another but knew it was necessary. Once the process was done they waited a moment for the information to show up. Once it did the goblin seemed a little taken aback but recovered quickly and handed it over to Harry.

Lord Harry James Potter

Age: 8 / ?

Heir to the Potter Family end of line

Access to Trust Vault

Access to Family Vault once ring claimed.

Heir to the Gryffindor Line age 15

Heir to the Slytherin Line through Rite of Conquest age 17

Heir to the Black Family

While looking at this Harry started to think back to what Dumbledore had said. He really was ignorant to basic things he should have known. How had he never known he was an heir to such powerful houses or that technically he was a Lord as soon as he wished to claim the right. As much as he wished to throw blame for not being told he knew that most of it lied with him. He was so grateful being out of the Dursley's that he never wondered if he had more out there for him.

"What does all this exactly mean?" Harry said out loud.

"It means that once you choose to claim your family ring you will be Lord Potter. Usually each family has an age requirement but being the last of the line you are able to claim it now. You have the option of emancipation, if you choose it, all that is needed is your signature and that of our director. Once you do this, you have a seat on the Wizengot and on the Board of Governors. You currently have access to your trust vault and entry to the family vault comes with the Potter ring. The Gryffindor and Slytherin lines are yours by choice at the appropriate age; if you do you will get access to those vaults as well. If you do not want these lines you may choose to announce an heir but never take lordship over these houses. Your heir will only take up the title when you pass or completely relinquish the right. They may however carry the name if you acknowledge it. Simply put you'll have the familial responsibilities but not the legal ones. "

"How public does this have to be sir?" Harry said contemplating many things. The goblin looked at Harry. "I'm not sure I understand Mr. Potter."

"First of all, please call me Harry. I am only 8 years old and it sounds odd to have someone older than me give me a title of respect when it should be the other way around." Harry said with a playful smile. "I will claim the title of Lord Potter but I don't want it know until at least not right before I start Hogwarts. I would want to have the emancipation papers signed and ready but not submitted. There are things that I need to do but I do not wish to call unnecessary attention to myself until I feel it would be beneficial. Once I'm in Hogwarts the public eye will be on me so it would not make much of a difference to have Lord Potter coming to Hogwarts rather than The Boy Who Lived. The wizarding world will love me one day and shun me the next, people will try to manipulate me for their own agendas and I need to have some insurance in case I need it. I would like to have the emancipation papers ready for this purpose." Harry was debating whether to go down to the vault and get the letter now or just let the goblin know of his plans. He decided that maintaining as much honesty with the goblins now might help them believe the need to get the Horcrux out when the time came. "There is a letter down in my family vault my parents wrote that will free my innocent godfather Sirius Black who was sent to Azkaban without a trial. I want the process started but wish to keep my name out of the whole situation for as long as possible so I can get some affairs in order. More importantly, if this is handled by the goblins there is a less chance that the ministry will try and cover up one of their mistakes."

The goblin took a moment to acknowledge "You're not exactly who you appear to be are you Harry?"

Harry smirked, "That could be said for most people, but no I am not. There is obviously something different by just looking at the discrepancies in my age. There are things that I cannot say yet. There will come a time when I will be able to speak freely and once I do hopefully we'll be able to cooperate with each other. While I cannot say much, know that _when_ dangerous times come amongst us I will tell you as much as I'm able so you can be better prepared for what is to come."

The goblin though about this and seemed to come to some kind of decision. "Alright Harry I believe you have been as honest as you can this meeting and therefore you have my trust. It is not given lightly; it is hard to come by and very easy to lose. Be aware of this if you wish to remain in our good graces. Since you have given me the right to call you by your first name please do the same for me, my name is Garuk. Now let's get some business done today."

After a while they came to the agreement that his parent's letter would be sent to Amelia Bones in the DMLE through the goblins. He claimed his family ring and made sure it was hidden under a glamour. He was also given a special wallet that was keyed to him and would be able to call up a specific amount of galleons or dollars and it would pull it directly from his account.

With everything done he took off to get some shopping done.


	3. Chapter 3  Making Changes

_With everything done he took off to get some shopping done. _

Harry figured he should go to the secondhand shop for some outfits. He debated on getting all new clothes but wanted to avoid the Dursley's asking where the money came from. If he purchased three or four used outfits he can say that his "boss" got them for him because he needed decent clothes because they worked in a nice neighborhood.

As he was walking into the shop the saleslady walked up to him, "Anything I can help you with sweetie?"

_What is it with lady's and pet names? _ He knew he was small so he guessed he still had the little boy cute factor.

"Yes, I need 5 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, some work boots, and one robe. If you have them can the bottoms be 3 black, 1 gray, and 1 blue. The shirts can be the same. The boots preferably black but as long as they're sturdy it will be fine and a simple black robe. Luckily she found all the pants. She had 3 black tops, 1 blue, no gray so he chose a green instead. The boots were black, a little faded but real sturdy, they looked worn in so at least they would be comfortable. Before leaving the shop he changed into the robe and put on the blue pants and black top underneath in case he decided to go to the muggle world afterwards.

After asking around he learned that there wasn't somewhere to get contacts. Harry wondered why contacts hadn't been introduced to the wizarding world. Thinking this might be a good business venture he made sure to make a note to look into later. Merlin, he could get Remus to manage and research spells to modify them. This could be making him money and give Remus a steady job. Because of this it would become a two day outing. He would have to give the optometrist a visit. Oh well.

He decided Flourish & Botts would be next. Upon entering he went straight to the Animagi section. Although the other two were more important this is what he truly wanted to achieve. Why he didn't try in his other life he didn't really know. Not only would it be something he could have in common with his father, but it would be great to have if he ever found himself in a sticky situation. Occlumency was next, he found two books, Secrecy of the Mind: The Art of Occlumency and Mind Arts : Protecting your Secrets. There actually weren't many books on wandless magic; there were basic concepts of it but mostly the theory behind it. It seemed that not many were powerful enough to actually perform more than a few basic spells, if even that. Harry guessed that the more complex spells were dependent on whether you had the power.

Other books he got were Hogwarts: A History, Quidditch through the Ages, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. Harry figured he should start getting familiar with other topics such as Goblin Customs and Wizarding Etiquette. His stack also included beginner books on Transfiguration, Charms, DADA, Potions, and Runes. He went to the healing section and looked in the index for nutrient and growth potions. Apparently you could get them from any healer but that wasn't something he wanted to do, instead he got a book with the direction to make them.

When his stomach started rumbling he thought it best to go the Leaky Cauldron to go get a room for the night and get a meal.

Walking in he went straight to Tom got his attention and said, "Excuse me sir"

"Why hello young man, how may I help you today?" Tom said with a slight smile on his face.

Harry tried to make his eyes as innocent as possible. Watching the twins do this many times he knew what to do. He knew it would work better on his childish features. "My dad told me that I'm old enough to rent a room for us. He says I got to start acting like a big man and handle some respone, responsatilaties" Tom had a small smile on his face. "He did didn't he, he sure is lucky to have another man in the family to help him out with things like this." Harry nodded seriously, "Whenever my papa is at work he says I gots to be the man in the house and take care of my mama and baby sister cause they're depending on me to defend their honor." He said with a serious expression.

Tom chuckled, "Well let's you a room…"

After settling his things into his room, he went back downstairs to have a meal while he was 'waiting for his papa.'

Now that he had a full stomach he went back upstairs to go over the information for both potions. He learned that he could only take one at a time. The nutrient potion would be daily for a month or two depending on how much you wanted to gain. Once that was done the growth potion would be taken once a week for a month. This would allow him to be at a normal healthy height. With lists in hand he made his way down to the Apothecary. Having no real interest in browsing he simply gave the list the man behind the counter and waited for his ingredients to be rounded up. Harry debated on getting a full potions kit, but figured he should wait until he's settled in somewhere.

Next stop was the Junk Shop; here Harry was hoping to find something similar to the Mokeskin pouch he got from Hagrid. Mokeskin pouches were very rare, chances of finding one were very poor. But again, it was like someone out there was looking out for him, Harry was ecstatic. The owner said they had just received one yesterday, it wasn't cheap by any means but Harry knew it was a good investment. This purchase alone made his day worthwhile.

It seemed like the right time to head back, he went to the Cauldron right at dinner time. It was very busy and it was easy to get through unnoticed. Once in his room he figured brewing the potion should take precedence he still had energy and wanted to make sure he was focused. Most importantly this had to be done out of the Dursley's home, once there it wouldn't be possible unless he stayed up at night. This took some time since he was being thorough, but in the end it was worth it, he was done.

By the time he was finished it was getting dark and he had built up an appetite. Harry decided to have his dinner brought up rather than eating downstairs. This way he can eat and get some reading done at the same time in silence. Once it arrived he settled down with his occlumency book and started eating his meal. He only got through the first chapter but he already knew more in that one chapter than he learned from Snape. All Snape told him was to clear his mind, obviously Harry had issues with this but was given no further help. This book says that meditation is the first step to occlumency. It's not necessary but if you have issues this is a good starting point. In order to be able to clear away emotion you need to be able to tune the rest of the world out. To accomplish this he should spend some time before bed and some time throughout the day regulating his breathing and trying to find a peace within himself. Learning to call upon that calm was key. Harry realized that if he could manage this it should also help his focus when he starts to study wandless magic.

Harry finally felt that he might be able to do this, of course this isn't occlumency but it's the first step. Working like this didn't make it seem so impossible. He noticed that he always got frustrated if he couldn't do something rather than appreciate what he could do. The patronus for example, achieving a mist at 13 is a feat in itself but he remember only feeling disappointment that he couldn't get it corporeal. _Well I have the time to learn things properly now but more importantly the drive to do it_, _might as well enjoy it_. He got ready for bed and focused on his meditation. His breathing was right but he swore he could hear every little sound in the room, and couldn't blur them out. Well maybe tomorrow….

The next morning he took his potion, gathered his things in his pouch, and took off for the day. He figured he would go to a mall some underwear, go for contacts, and then take a cab or a bus home. Probably the bus if only to delay the time before going back to the Dursleys. Four hours later he had contacts in his eyes and brand new underwear and socks. He ended having to bribe a teenager to take him to the optometrist. It really was a pain sometimes to be a child again, at one point he was getting stares for being on his own. He ended up stopping at one of the coin rides and decided to take a ride. He figured it was normal enough and it might be a little fun '_ok so maybe it was a pretty cool, but who could not enjoy a spaceship ride?' _

He got some reading done on the way home. The first chapter of wandless magic consisted of the same concept as occlumency. You have to learn to focus your magic before you can actually do much. The idea was that once you start learning meditation to tune the rest of the world out you could move on to focusing inward and searching for your core. Once you become comfortable with this you start to guide it to your hand and push it out. Initially you will only be able to push out raw magic, but slowly you'll be able to modify it for different purposes. The more power and focus you have the more complex spells you can accomplish. It was frustrating though that none of this could really be done without being somewhat competent in meditation.

Once home, Aunt Petunia greeted him by demanding his pay right away. Harry handed the full thirty when it looked like she was about to walk away he made sure to ask about his 3 pounds. She seemed a little disgruntled but gave it to him anyway. He was surprised she didn't come up with something or just take it all regardless.

"Where did you get those clothes boy, and where are your glasses?" she looked at him suspiciously as if he stole them from the store.

"Mr. Johnson said that he liked my work, but that I needed some decent clothes if I wanted to keep working for him. Some of the houses we clean are in nice neighborhoods so we have to be presentable." He had made sure to only have the muggle clothes out so she could see what kind of clothes he got. "We went to a secondhand shop and he got me a few outfits as a thank you. My glasses broke and I figured I'll make do until I can afford a new pair."

"Hmm…" she said disdainfully "fine you better make sure that Johnson fellow calls you again then."

**-oOo-**

The next three weeks passed with a somewhat developed pattern. He would get up and meditate, anywhere from half an hour to an hour. Before breakfast he would take his nutrition potion, do his chores, then he would spend the afternoon either reading or in the park. The weather was nice and he even got a bit of color, enough to make him look healthy. His evenings were spent learning French for about an hour. He had gotten a book from the library and figured it would be nice to know another language. Another hour would be used to meditate, as he started improving he realized how much more peaceful his dreams were. It was a wonderful feeling. He took about four 'work days' and just went out to enjoy himself. Mostly the library but he did end up going to the movies, the zoo, and McDonald's. He actually spent an hour playing in the tubes, it really was a blast.

At the end of three weeks he had gained half a stone, learned a bit in French, nowhere near competent but could probably greet and say goodbye to someone. He hadn't started on Runes yet and just gave a brief overview on goblin customs. Quidditch through the ages was read first of course, followed closely by Hogwarts: A History. Reading it reminded him of how much he loved Hogwarts, good and the bad it was the first home he knew. Because of this Hogwarts: A History became one of his favorites, finally understanding Hermoine a bit more. He read through the books for DADA, charms, and transfigurations. He felt he knew this material but it was good to review, it helped him remember the concepts behind them and it might help with his wandless magic. Potions wasn't really reviewed but he thought too much of his focus was being put on Occlumency and Wandless magic, once he got the gist of those and it became more of practice rather than learning he could focus on something else that gave him difficulty. The book that really fascinated him was the one on wizarding etiquette. There was so much that could be considered an insult or a compliment without even knowing it. Harry knew that this was something he had to learn if he was going to enter Hogwarts as a lord.

All in all it was a productive three weeks. He was most proud of his progress on Wandless magic, he was at the point where he was going to start focusing on his magic. He knew how to meditate fairly well and he felt ready for the next step. Occlumency was going slower but there was still progress being made, he was able to clear his mind but it still took him some time, _practice I guess, _once he could clear his mind quickly he would move to the next step and compartmentalize his mind.

**-oOo-**

One day there was finally that knock on the door. Harry was home alone so he went to open it, it took all his self control to not show the shock that he was feeling. Standing there was no other than Sirius Black, clean, hair combed, and in expensive robes.

"How may I help your sir?" Harry said in a polite tone most would use with strangers .

Sirius was obviously shocked to see Harry right away as well as it took him a moment to acknowledge that he was being asked a question.

"Harry is that really you?"

Harry didn't want him to act as complete strangers so making it up as he went looked at Sirius and replied, "I know you from somewhere, you seem familiar but I'm not sure, something about a foot?"

Sirius let out a loud laugh, "My name is Sirius Black, Harry I'm your godfather. For reasons that I will explain in detail to you later I was unable to care for you. I'm able now and I've been given custody of you, if you want to you can live with me from now on." Warily now he looked at Harry and continued, "Has your aunt told you anything about the world your parents lived in?"

Shaking his head Harry responded, "I found out on my own recently but haven't told anything by them. They're not very receptive to anything they considered not normal."

Frowning Sirius asked "Are your relatives here right now?"

"No they're not, which is why I'm not sure if I should let you in" Can't have his godfather thinking he's a stupid kid either. What would he think about his godson letting in a stranger into his home? Granted he really wasn't but that's just beside the point.

"What if I show you something magical that might help you remember who I am, would let me in then?" Sirius had such a hopeful face that even if he was a stranger Harry would have said yes. _Definitely gotta learn that one, maybe with my cute mug it'll work on McGonnagal._ Harry warily nodded, with that Sirius looked around to make sure nobody was around. Once Harry saw the grim there he gave a loud gasp and put on a surprised face which quickly turned into a happy one, "PADFOOT! I remember you." Hugging the grim he whispered, "I've missed you."

Hearing this Sirius turned back, and hugged Harry to him, "Oh pup I've missed you too. I'm so sorry I couldn't be here and I will explain it all. But I promise to be here from now on."

Harry couldn't help but think that this was the hello they should have always had. To have Sirius last time only to know that they couldn't be a family was heartbreaking. Granted he had the mentality of an adult but who says you still can't act like a child. He would still focus on learning things but he didn't have to become a Hermoine about it. There is always a balance to everything.

While being hugged Harry was also marveling at the fact that Sirius actually got out without bringing in Harry to testify, either the goblins worked their magic or Dumbledore worked hard to keep him away for as long as he could. He was never worried whether Sirius would be given custody or not. The ministry would be bending over backwards to keep him as happy as possible hoping he wouldn't make a fuss in public.

"Come in, come in" Sirius smile as he was being led to the living room by a very excited 8 year old. He was happy to see the wary kid that opened the door turn into an animated little boy.

"Let me take a look at you Harry" He stood Harry in front of him and gave him a long look. "You looks so much like your father Harry but those eyes are all Lily, the resemblance is uncanny. I'm surprised you don't wear glasses like your old man pup."

Here Harry smiled playfully, "I do but I switched to contacts. I figured these eyes are meant to dazzle women everywhere, it would be a crime to keep them hidden."

Sirius just stared for a second then burst out laughing. He looked so full of life, it was heartwarming to see his godfather like this. But of course it was too good to last, at that moment he heard the lock on the front door being unlocked. He quickly looked at Sirius, "I'm sorry for my relatives, I wish I had more time to warn you but they don't really like me, mention magic and you'll really make them mad. Just tell them you're my godfather and you're taking me away and they should be happy."

His godfather gave him a searching look, he seemed to have seen something because it turned slightly troubled, then mischievous.

Sirius got up to greet his uncle, when Vernon went through the doorstep he stopped when he saw Sirius. Sirius was opening his mouth when Vernon cut in, "Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" Vernon then got a close look at Sirius's robe and seemed to turn purple. "You're one of those freaks aren't you. We've been taking care of the boy and all we ask for is to not be disturbed by any of your kind. I demand you get out of here this instant."

Sirius was momentarily frozen, he wasn't sure what he expected but he certainly didn't expect to be insulted and kicked out before he had even said a word. It was taking everything in him to not hex this muggle right there and then. He probably would have if it wasn't for Harry staring up at him with those innocent yet slightly frightened eyes. He was impulsive once and looks were that ended him up at. Well he didn't have to hex them scare them.

"Mrs. Dursley my name is Sirius Black, perhaps you recognize me from the news about 7 years back. I've just been released from Azkaban, perhaps your sister has told you about it?" He turned to Harry and winked. "I've been released now but still have to go in for mental checks. Apparently when something upsets me I get obsessed and can't really control myself. Luckily right now I have my godson to keep me calm, the ministry thought that he should come and live with me because they felt my love for him will keep me from doing something crazy. Hopefully nobody has treated Harry badly because that's the one thing I'm not sure I could get over. Imagine what would happen if he told me someone has mistreated him, what that could do to my mental state?" The Dursley looked terrified; Harry was doing everything he could to look at Sirius compassionately rather than laughing his butt off.

"You don't know of anyone who would do something like that would you? Somebody at school perhaps, or around the neighborhood? No? Well that's good. Harry go on and pack your stuff so we can be on our way." Harry jumped up and went to his cupboard, he grabbed a bag and packed his clothes and the intro magic books, he also still had his baby blanket, he wondered why he didn't take better care of it last time. He would have Sirius do a cleaning spell and treasure this as well. All in all it was pretty much a bag worth of clothes. Sirius couldn't see the cupboard from where he was at and Harry was grateful for it. He didn't want to deal with this now. He knew he would probably tell him eventually but not now. He could see the Dursley's from where he was at and they looked terrified at him then at Sirius. Harry realized that they were scared Sirius would get up and see the cupboard.

He shut the cupboard without looking twice. "I'm ready to go Sirius" He nodded to his relatives; there really wasn't much to say. Sirius grabbed his hand and led him to the door. His relatives never moved from the couch still too scared to move, Harry couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as they closed the door behind them.


	4. Chapter 4  Moving In

_He shut the cupboard without looking twice. "I'm ready to go Sirius" He nodded to his relatives; there really wasn't much to say. Sirius grabbed his hand and led him to the door. His relatives never moved from the couch still too scared to move, Harry couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him as they closed the door behind them. _

"Welcome home Harry, this is Grimmauld Place."

Harry looked around; surprised Sirius would bring him here. Sirius must have caught his look because he smiled sheepishly, "I know it's not much to look at but it's a safe place for us to live, I was hoping we could redecorate together and make it our own."

Harry beamed up at him, "That'll be great Sirius, can I pick out colors?" Sirius grinned "Of course buddy. Come on let's go to the kitchen." Walking through the hallway Harry noticed that although it was still gloomy it was clear of all cobwebs and looked generally clean.

They both sat down at the table and were served dinner by a new elf. "Harry this is Misty, she's our house elf, Misty this is Harry he'll be living here from now on as well."

"Nice to meet you Misty" said Harry

"Nice to meet you Master Harry, welcome home" with that she popped away.

Looking at Sirius questionably he asked, "Sirius, what's house elf?"

"Merlin Harry, I forget how new this would be for you. Did those relatives not tell you anything of the magic world?"

Harry looked down as if ashamed. "When I did abnormal things they got angry, they said there was no such thing as magic. The only reason I know anything of it at all is because someone recognized me when I was in London with Mr. Johnson. I didn't ask much because the man looked weird," At Sirius's questioning look Harry smiled timidly, "I thought he was wearing a dress." Sirius chuckled, "but he did mention he was heading towards The Leaky Cauldron in Charrings Cross. So the next day Mr. Johnson dropped me off at the bookstore next door, he couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron so I knew it had to be the right place. Once there I followed a family through the wall and made it to the bank. Once I stepped in one of the goblins recognized me and took me into an office and helped me through the process of acquiring the Potter ring." Both of Sirius's eyebrows shot up, but he stayed quiet and made a gesture as if to say continue.

"Then Garuk told me I had access to my vaults and I could get emancipated if I wished to. I didn't have anywhere to go so I said I didn't want to yet but we signed everything anyways so that if I ever wanted to, all that had to be done was to submit the paperwork. I got the Potter ring but Garuk recommended that I don't claim lordship of the Potter line until I start Hogwarts or until I read up on it more, saying that it would bring me to much attention and I wouldn't know how to handle it. Well anyway, they gave me this wallet," Harry pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to Sirius, "and I went to the secondhand shop got some clothes and a pair of boots, then I went to the bookstore got some books," Harry looked up, "do you want me to show you?" he managed to rush this all out giving off the impression of an excited kid telling someone of his adventures.

Sirius looked a little overwhelmed but seemed determined to hear the rest, "I can see them tomorrow Harry, how about you tell me the rest of your story."

"Well there's not much more to it, once I finished I had everything I needed but it was getting dark. So I went into the Leaky Cauldron and asked the man in charge if there were somewhere I could stay for the night. He got me a room and set me up with dinner before I went up. Have you ever had pumpkin juice? It's really good." Sirius nodded with a smile on his face.

"I think it's my new favorite, well I went up and went to sleep, the next day I had breakfast, with some more pumpkin juice too. Then went to the bookstore next door and asked them to order me a cab. Then I got home, three weeks later you showed up." By the end he was jumping in his seat, while there were some drawbacks to being a kid again, he decided that since he's stuck with it he might as well enjoy it.

It looked like Sirius was taking everything in and debating on what to say. "Ok Harry, I guess it's time we talk, let's go to the living room? Misty can you bring some tea for me; do you want anything to drink Harry?"

"Hot chocolate?"

"Coming right up master Harry?"

"Thank you misty." Misty gave a little squeak, and popped away looking bewildered. _Maybe Dobby wasn't so odd after all._

Once they were sitting down with drinks in hand, Sirius started "Harry, what exactly do you know about your parents' deaths and why you ended up with the Dursley's?"

"Not much, until I met that man I thought my parents had died in a car crash, at least that's what the Dursley's said," Sirius looked ready to explode so Harry continued on before he could, "after having gone to Diagon Alley I read the books so I understand a little bit more. A bad wizard came to our house and killed dad and mum, something happened and apparently I defeated him. After that I was sent to the Dursley's" here Harry put on a sad face.

Sirius took a drink of his tea, "Harry before you were born there was a wizard that went really bad and liked to hurt people. His name was Lord Voldemort. See there are three kinds of wizards, do you know the difference between pure-blood, half blood, and muggle-born?" Harry nodded.

"Anyways Voldemort believed that muggle-born wizards should not be a part of the wizarding world. He wanted to get rid of them. There were wizards who believed in the same thing and became his followers, they were known as Death Eaters. When they hurt people they would put a mark in the sky called the Dark Mark. As the dark mark was seen more often in the sky and people started disappearing people became very afraid. Voldemort and his followers attacked anyone who resisted against them. Whole families disappeared either by going into hiding or because Voldemort targeted them. People were fighting but it seemed hopeless, Voldemort just kept gaining power. Are you ok so far Harry?"

Harry nodded not even having to pretend being a bit overwhelmed. He never expected someone to be this honest with him at eight. But Sirius understood that Harry deserved to know how his parents died no matter what age. They were his parents and he deserved to know what kind of world they lived in and also to be able to truly understand their bravery as they fought for what they believed in. Respect for Sirius went up considerably.

"Keep going please, I want to know, but can I ask questions after?"

Sirius stared at Harry as if gauging the truth of his words, with a nod he continued.

"Your parents, our friend Remus, another friend named Peter, and myself were all part of a group who was trying to fight Voldemort's forces. After you were born information came that Voldemort was going after the Potters. Your parents wanted to make sure you were protected so they decided to go into hiding. They used a charm, called the Fidelus that hides the location of a house. Only one person holds the secret and unless that person tells you the location you won't know where it's at. At the time there was a spy in that group but no one knew who it was, close friends started to mistrust each other. I started doubting Remus even though we had been friends for years and I planted doubts in your parents' heads. When the time came to pick a secret keeper your parents chose me. Harry, I thought it was too obvious, everyone knew that James and I were like brothers." Harry could see that Sirius was having trouble holding it together but trying hard to continue. He grabbed his hand hoping he provided some comfort.

"I thought I had come up with a brilliant plan, we would tell everyone that I was the secret keeper but secretly switch to Peter. No one would suspect Peter; he was always the weakest and most cowardly of the four. All through Hogwarts we protected him from others. Your mother was the only one to doubt the plan but your father and I convinced her it was for the best. Death Eaters would chase after me and leave Peter alone making you guys safer."

"On Halloween night, a week after the charm was performed, I had gone to Peter's house and it was empty, for some reason I had a bad feeling and felt I should go check on you guys. When I got there the house was basically destroyed, Lily and James were already dead. I knew then that Peter had betrayed us. Hagrid was already there holding you, saying he was going to take you to Dumbledore. At the time I didn't think anything of it, I knew you were safe and I was so consumed in my anger that I went chasing after Peter. I found and confronted him, he screamed that I had betrayed Lily and James, and before I could curse him he made an explosion and killed twelve muggles and disappeared. I was arrested and taken to Azkaban, never given a trial; nobody thought I needed one because as far as everyone knew I was the secret keeper and had just finished killing twelve muggles and Peter. I was never given the chance to give my side of the events."

Harry was looking at Sirius wide eyed. Sirius continued, "A few weeks ago new evidence was brought that allowed me to finally be questioned and then freed. And that's where we're at now."

Sirius fidgeted, nervously and looked at Harry. "So do you have any questions?"

Harry was going to ask if they could sleep on it but he didn't want to dwell on this conversation any longer. Harry had made his peace with the death of his parents, he still mourned the parents he wished he had but accepted nothing could be done. Looking at Sirius, it was obvious that this was still fresh in his mind; being sent to Azkaban right away gave him no time to properly mourn. It would be cruel to make him keep talking about this.

"What happened to that Peter man?"

Sirius frowned, "I'm not sure Harry most people believe him dead but that's because they assumed I killed him. There's a chance that the blast got him but I can't know for sure, he hasn't been seen in seven years."

"Is Remus still your friend?"

It looked like it pained Sirius to answer, "As soon as I was cleared I was sent to St. Mungo's, to get healthy again. I was weak and a little messed up in the head. I had to recuperate before I was allowed to get you and that was my main priority. Once I got better I went for you. I truly hope me and Moony, that's Remus' nickname, are still friends but the last we saw each other I thought he was a spy and he thought the same of me. I'm not sure how long it'll take to make things right again but he was a good friend to your parents and deserves to see you as well. I hope I can make peace and have him move in with us. He's a bit more responsible and has got more common sense than I do, plus it gives us a prank victim." Sirius said with a mischievous smile. "Maybe he can tutor you as well and we can continue your schooling here rather than in the muggle world, that way we can combine it with some wizard stuff you should know before going to Hogwarts, but we'll decide that later." Sirius smiled trying to lighten the mood.

Harry allowed a small smile to appear but wanted to plow through this conversation.

"What happened to all of Voldemort's followers? Are they all in prison?"

"No Harry not all of them went to prison, some went into hiding, and some claimed that they were innocent and let free even though they weren't. Most are keeping quiet, without their master they don't have much power. But some might want revenge, and because you're the one who defeated their master you would be a target. That's the reason why we just have to be a little more careful than most. We'll go over rules later but at least you understand why we moved here."

Harry nodded, "Do you know why he came after us?"

"I'm not sure; the Potter's were a powerful and public family on the light side. It might have been that he wanted to deal a blow to the light side, but we can't know for sure. The only one who probably really knows is Voldemort." Harry looked at Sirius carefully, it looked like he was being honest, whether his parents knew the prophecy or not it seemed like Sirius didn't.

He figured that this was about enough questions for now so he decided to ask his last one. Taking on a bashful look he asked, "Do you have a picture of them? And will you tell me about them sometime?"

At this question Sirius beamed "Of course Harry, I can tell so many stories about them. I knew your father best but I also knew your mother. Moony used to study with your mother so he might know her more. I'm pretty sure I have pictures in my old room somewhere; as we're cleaning the house I'm sure we'll come across them. If I can't find any I'll make sure to ask old friends ok?"

"Perfect Padfoot, perfect." With that yawn he found himself being led to the master suite that he and Sirius would share for the night.

**-oOo-**

Next morning Harry woke up early, turning over he saw that Sirius was still in deep sleep. Grabbing a change of clothes he went to bathroom to shower and get ready for the day. Before he left the restroom he took his potion and then went to the living room.

It was only 6:30; he knew that Sirius was not an early riser so he figured he probably had about two hours before he got up. He spent the next thirty minutes meditating. He was happy that he was getting better at clearing his mind. He managed to do it six times in those thirty minutes. He would give himself two more weeks to try and speed it up a bit more before moving on to the next step.

Today was going to be his first attempt at reaching his core. Focusing inward he felt small tendrils of something slightly glowing white. It felt as if very thin strands were flowing in him. As he started following them he knew he was heading in the right direction, they started feeling a little thicker and looked brighter. He knew he had reached his core when he was feeling sensations of love and happiness, it was warm and inviting almost like the feeling he got from Fawkes song but different. It was difficult to describe but if felt wonderful. How he wished he had someone to talk to about this, he wanted to find out if this was how everyone's core felt. Maybe later he could compare with Dumbledore.

Now he knew why it took control and focus, you could easily get trapped there it was almost addicting. It appeared to be about the size of volleyball, he started feeling around it just to get familiar with it. He pulled a little of it away and saw that it started to replenish itself. It wasn't instantaneous but it wasn't slow either. It explained why someone needed to rest when they became magically exhausted. It would allow your body to focus only on refilling its core. He knew that cores also got bigger as you age until you reach your magical maturity. The more you use it while you're developing the bigger it will get. Hopefully the fact that he's starting a little earlier and using more powerful magic will help him with that as well.

When he felt his alarm go off he pulled away, he was slightly out of breath but he felt exhilarated. Harry wasn't sure what to do next; he didn't want to do his reading until he had a more private place. He wished he had brought his other bag down, he could have read some of the other books. He finally decided to go to the kitchen to see if he could keep Misty company for a while.

When he walked in it was empty, he knew he could call her but didn't want to wake her if she was asleep. He really wished he had some cards with him. Finally he grabbed his wallet and asked for ten pounds in singles. (I'm trying to say like ten 1 dollar bills, not sure how it works in England though) He sat at the table and started folding and shaping them into rings. He had picked this up in school a while ago as a time waster, usually he would use paper but he didn't know where it was kept here or if there even was any. He made five rings to fit his left hand. Once that was done he decided to make little triangles to play finger football with. Thankfully when he was done with his little footballs Misty showed up.

"Master Harry what are you doing up so early? Is there anything I can get for you?"

"No I'm ok Misty, I tend to get up early, and I was lonely so I decided to come down here, is it ok if I just sit here with you? Or hey if you have nothing to do yet, you wanna play with me?"

"Misty can play but I'm not sure how, if Master Harry teaches me how I will."

Harry grinned, feeling silly for getting so excited over having someone to play with.

"Ok you put your hands up in the shapes of an L and a backwards L making a goalpost…."

It was a very surprised Sirius who walked in to a paper triangle flicking his forehead, and a house elf with their hands in the air cheering. He looked at his godson and saw that he was looking back at him with a mixture of surprise, amusement, and flicker of wariness.

"Master Sirius we be sorry, we were playing a game and didn't hear you come in" the elf scrambled out of her seat trying to reach the stove, to start breakfast probably.

"I am so sorry Sirius we were playing and I didn't see you before I had flicked the football. I got up early and was lonely so I asked Misty if she would play with me. Is that ok?" Harry said while fidgeting slightly, rationally he knew his godfather wasn't going to do anything but what else do you say when you hit someone on the forehead?

Sirius smiled brightly.

"Don't worry about it pup I was just caught by surprise, Misty you can play with Harry anytime you want I won't ever get upset. I prefer you playing with him than him getting into some mischief" Sirius said with a wink at Harry. With Sirius's response Misty smiled brightly and gave a slight bow.

"Would you and Master Harry want breakfast now?"

"Yes please, breakfast sounds great" turning to Harry "How long have you been up Harry?"

"I got up around six" said Harry amused at his godfather's astonished face "I used to have some morning chores and then made breakfast for the Dursley's so I'm in the habit of having to get up early."

He could tell that Sirius was upset so he kept going, "I know you're not like them Sirius but I couldn't sleep any more so I came down here so I wouldn't wake you, but I didn't know what I'm allowed to do or not do so I just spent it playing a game and making rings." Showing off his rings with a proud face.

"So show me this game you were playing, were you winning?" Sirius couldn't help the laugh when he saw a smirking house elf and a pouting boy.

"No, she was beating me by six, but we'll start over, here let me show you."

They played with Sirius losing spectacularly until Misty served breakfast.

After breakfast Sirius gave Harry a few options on what they could do for the day. Since it was their first day together they could spend it out just getting to know each other and having fun. Cleaning and decorating the house. Going to see Remus. Or going to Diagon Alley to go buy Harry basic stuff like clothes, toys, and some books.

Harry asked if they could clean his room go visit Moony and then clean the library. That way tomorrow they could go buy furniture and stuff for him to decorate with. After that they can start focusing on the rest of the house.

Before Sirius could answer Misty came up, "If Misty can make a suggestion master?"

"Of course Misty go right ahead" said Sirius.

"You go visit your Remus while I clean room and library. When you get home you can move furniture and paint walls and then start to organize library. I'll make sure no dust or dangerous objects are in rooms before Masters go in."

Harry looked at Sirius with hopeful eyes; as much as he wanted to get stuff done or go and have fun, he really missed Moony too. He wanted the three of them to be family. He loved them both and Remus deserved the comfort and love of a family as well.

"Ok pup wait here while I make a floo call to find out his address."

Harry had a second cup of pumpkin juice while he waited for Sirius to come back in. As they walked out the door Sirius said, "We'll be taking the knight bus Harry, it'll take us right to his address" and with that he stuck his wand out.

**-oOo-**

Remus had led a very lonely life for the last seven years; he lived in a little cottage that he had managed to purchase for himself throughout the years. It wasn't much but it was home.

All that time he had gone from job to job never being able to keep one for a long period of time because of his condition. He tended to stay in the muggle world where they didn't know of it which at least gave him a chance. He had gotten lucky in his latest job; he was a book stacker in a library. It was a part time job with decent pay, and flexible hours. He didn't need much so it let him lead a simple but comfortable life.

After that devastating night seven years ago he had segregated himself off. Making trips to the wizarding world maybe twice a year and reading the Daily Prophet only when he had a little extra spending money, and because of his latest job he was able to do so recently.

This was how he had found out about his old friend Sirius Black. He couldn't believe Sirius had been in Azkaban for so many years while being innocent. Remus had never doubted that he was guilty; he felt so ashamed of himself for not giving him even the chance to explain. He wanted so badly to talk to his old friend, but felt he had no right to, not after deserting him like that.

This is why he was so shocked when he opened the door to see Sirius and a boy who had to be James's son. He stood frozen in front of them, shocked at seeing two people who he had longed to see for so long. Nobody said or did anything for about two minutes. Finally Harry couldn't take it anymore.

"Padfoot, is this him? What's wrong? Should I poke him?" Harry whispered to Sirius knowing full well that Remus would be able to overhear.

Remus came out of his shocked state and looked down at Harry who seemed frustrated with the lack of activity. He almost blushed when he saw Sirius trying to stop himself from laughing, he must have looked ridiculous.

"Sirius, Harry please come in, take a seat"

As they sat Sirius cleared his throat, "Harry this is Moony the man I told you about, Moony I thought you might want to see Harry again."

With tears in his eyes Remus spoke, "It's very nice to see you again Harry, I'm not sure you remember me but I used to know you when you were a baby."

"Hi, Sirius was telling me stuff about you, he said you were friends with my mum, and he said you would tell me stuff about her. My dad too, so will you? Do you want me to call you Remus or Moony? Sirius doesn't care what I call him but he prefers Padfoot." He looked at him with expectant eyes.

Remus laughed at the enthusiasm that only a child could pull off. Before he could answer though Sirius spoke up, "Is there another room where Harry can wait? Maybe with a book or something while we talk?" Seeing Remus nod he turned to Harry "Pup I need to talk to Moony for a bit, let's go choose a book while he makes you a drink and then you can wait in the kitchen until we're done talking, is that ok?" Receiving a nod, Remus led them to his collection of books which was pretty impressive considering his financial status. Harry looked around not sure what to get but luckily Sirius found The Tales of Beetle Bard for him.

"Here Harry these are like the bedtime stories in the wizarding world, you'll enjoy it."

After handing it to Harry they made their way to the kitchen, Remus was waiting there with a glass of pumpkin juice, he wondered if it was a guess or if Sirius had told him.

"Is it ok if I borrow this one? Padfoot picked it out for me."

"Of course Harry, if you like it and don't finish it you may also take it home" Remus said with a kind smile on his face. He settled down on the table and opened the book.

"I'll be in the other room if you need anything, don't be afraid to ask, we'll come back when we're done ok?" Harry nodded already reading the book.

He was curious to what was going on in the other room but figured it was private, and honestly he knew they would forgive each other so what was the point of invading their privacy.

Later, Harry wasn't sure how long but probably about an hour, Sirius and Remus came back in, and this time the atmosphere was a much happier one.

While he was glad they had made up he was tired of sitting there, his butt was numb and he was anxious to get up. When they walked in he jumped up.

"Finally you guys are done, are we going back now?" Turning to Moony, "Are you ready to go, Sirius said you and me are in charge of the library."

Obviously Sirius hadn't brought up the fact that he wanted Moony to move in with them because Remus looked completely shocked. Sirius smiled sheepishly at Remus and jokingly glared at Harry.

"I hadn't gotten that far yet Harry" Sirius sighed he was about to sit down before Harry yelled

"WAIT!" Both Remus and Sirius looked startled and looked around as if there was a danger nearby.

"Sorry" Harry looked down embarrassed "it's just if we're gonna talk some more can we go to the living room. I've been sitting here for an hour and my butt is numb." 

Both Sirius and Remus laughed but made their way to the living room nevertheless.

Once seated, Sirius started the conversation.

"Moony you need to move in with us" _well nobody ever said that Sirius was subtle._

It seemed like Remus thought the same thing because although it looked like he had some objections ready he looked amused as well.

"Before you say more let us talk, first of all we need a teacher for Harry here unless he wants to go back to his muggle school" When Sirius gave him a questioning look Harry frantically shook his head. There was no way he wanted to go back to where Dudley was; also it would help him have an excuse for being advanced once he got to Hogwarts.

Remus was watching the interaction with a raised eyebrow but said nothing. Seeing Harry's response Sirius gave a nod and continued.

"Second I'm man enough to know when I need help. I wish I could say what kinds of things are appropriate for a child but I'm not quite sure, it would be nice to have someone else there to make sure I'm not doing wrong by my godson." Harry looked at his godfather carefully and noticed that there was real worry there. Harry never considered that Sirius would be worried about this but it warmed his heart to know someone was putting him first.

"Third and most important is we're all the three of us have left. We've all been through hard times and we deserve to have family now. From now on we can know that we can count on each other, I'm worried about teaching him stuff but I know that you can take care of that. You might be worried about money but you should know I can take care of that. Will your pride really stop you from being there for me and Harry? I'm here admitting that I need help from you, can't you do the same?"

Both Harry and Remus looked dumbfounded, Harry was amazed that Sirius could be so serious and deep about something. He was about ready to punch Remus if he tried to say no. He figured he could throw salt to the wound.

"You don't want to come live with us Moony?" _I should get an Oscar for this. _Harry made his eyes water, and bottom lip quiver. Changing to contacts had definitely been a great idea; Harry knew that he looked adorable right now. He looked at Sirius to find him sporting the same face without the lip quiver. _I have got to study that man._ Looking back to Remus he knew they had won.

Putting his hands up as if in surrender he said, "Ok ok, let me pack a bag, Sirius you can get someone else to pick up the rest" Harry and Sirius looked at each other and smiled. As soon as Remus turned his back Sirius winked at him and smirked mischievously, Harry couldn't help it when the same smirk appeared on his face.

"How are you going to move all of his stuff Padfoot?"

Sirius shrugged "We'll have one of the muggle companies come and pack his stuff up; once it's done we'll have Misty pick them up. As long as we take his books today it should be fine, everything else could pass as muggle."

About half an hour later Remus came in with three duffle bags. Two were filled with books and one with clothes. "I heard your conversation and I packed up my books as well, I only had one wizard photo which is packed as well, everything else should be fine."

Grabbing one of the bags Sirius started walking to the door; Harry grabbed the book and did the same with Remus following behind. By the time Remus locked up the knight bus was there and they took off.

**-oOo-**

When they got home they had some lunch, made introductions with Misty and headed to Harry's room. Walking in Harry was practically bouncing. He might have gotten the Dursley's spare bedroom last time but he's not sure he ever thought of it as anything other than Dudley's spare room. He never got to decorate it or really add any of his personality to it, but this room would be completely his. Today was only a small step but it was the beginning to it becoming his.

Walking in, it totally gave of the impression of the Black family; it was so dark and gloomy, he knew why Sirius had wanted to redecorate.

"Do you like any of this furniture Harry?" Asked Sirius, with a slight grimace "Remember that if you want to keep anything that's ok but if you don't we'll just put it into one of the guest rooms since we have to get a few of those ready anyways."

There wasn't much he liked it was all too dark, "Can we just start all over?"

"Oh thank Merlin; I was hoping you would say that, I can't stand any of this furniture" Sirius let out a deep breath, while Remus just chuckled.

As Sirius started shrinking stuff Harry made sure to keep a fascinated face on, it really wasn't all an act, Harry loved watching magic when it wasn't used just for fighting and surviving. Too much of his focus last time was on what he could use for a fight. He turned to Remus.

"What spell are you using Moony?" Remus looked at him and answered "Reducio"

"Wicked" Harry said with a smile, "How do you do it?"

Remus scrutinized Harry, "You know you're not allowed to do magic yet right?"

"I know Moony; I just want to learn how it's done. I wouldn't want to get in trouble with the Ministry." Giving him his most convincing smile.

"I suppose" Remus didn't looked convinced but showed him anyways.

Once everything was shrunk it only took them one trip to clear the room. The room definitely needed a paint job.

"Do you have any idea how you want to decorate the walls Harry?" Remus asked

"Sort of, on one wall I wanted a dragon flying over a lake with the 3 of us riding it. To the right of that I want a forest with a wolf coming out of it howling at the moon, only one because my bed will be covering up that wall. On the right of that wall I want the lake to show again with a unicorn drinking from it while it' s young is looking up at the moon. On this one that should be facing the bed I want my name and the Potter crest under it, no stars and rose vines leading out of it. Is that possible?"

He looked up at Remus and Sirius they looked at little gob smacked but Remus answered anyways "Yes Harry, there is a street vendor that will draw up your design, then all we have to do is put an engorgio charm to make it the size of the wall and put a sticking charm on it."

Sirius cut in, "Why don't we just get rid of the furniture in the library and not worry about more yet so we can make a quick trip to Diagon Alley. We've got about 3 ½ hours before dinner so it'll give us some time to get your wallpaper and order the furniture. What do you guys think?"

Harry and Remus both nodded. After quickly getting rid of the furniture in the library which consisted of sofa, two recliners, and a coffee table they took off.

They showed Harry how to take the floo powder, and of course he ended up on the floor, red faced, in the Leaky Cauldron. He had to figure out what he was doing wrong. Sirius was cracking up.

"Aw Harry, you got that from your dad, we'll teach you how to do it properly, I taught your dad the same thing, he never looked graceful but he stopped ending up sprawled on the floor." Remus said while Sirius chuckled in the background probably reminiscing. 

They made their way in to Diagon Alley and went down to the street vendors, to the one who did the drawings. He reminded Harry of one of the caricaturists' that's on the beach promenades.

Sirius left to buy some stuff while Harry was describing what he wanted. Remus stayed to observe, or take care of Harry, however you wished to view it, Harry preferred the former. It took about an hour to get the designs ready. The man really was brilliant. The base picture was done with a spell and then adjusted as Harry directed, same with the colors. By the time Sirius came back it was to a happy Harry with his wallpapers in hand.

Once done there the three took off to the furniture shop. It wasn't what Harry had pictured; he was expecting a big warehouse looking store with a lot of furniture on display, apparently not. They had a catalog and if you wanted to see something they would get it out of a trunk and enlarge it, if you wanted it they shrunk it back up so you could take it with you. _Pretty convenient._

The three of them started looking but Harry wasn't sure what he should get. With a few pointers he ended up with a full sized bed, he made sure it didn't have any kind of canopy, with a black frame. They also got a nightstand, a small dresser, a desk and a small bookshelf and a black rug. Harry didn't see the point of getting anything else when he had the rest of the house to do other things in. Last thing he was going to do was stay in his room when he could be spending time with Remus or Sirius. Sirius also ended up getting him a quidditch themed toy box. It really was pretty cool. Remus recommended plain black picture frames that he could decorate later on his own. Also so that if they found any pictures he could put them up right away.

They weren't sure what color they were going paint the library so it was making it hard to pick what kind of color or what kind of furniture to get. The three couldn't agree on anything. Finally Remus said that it should be mostly up to him and Harry to pick it out since Sirius would never really be in there. They took a vote and Sirius lost. They ended up picking out two lazy boys and a sofa that fit about three people comfortably all a rich chocolate brown color. In addition was a nice coffee table and they figured all the furniture could be placed around the fireplace. Once finishing they ended up taking a copy of the catalog home so that they could make the orders from home. When they got home they set up Harry's room, at least the decorating part was done, and they could get stuff like clothes, toys, later.

They were sitting at the table all obviously tired eating their dinner when Sirius gave a side look at Remus and then turned to Harry.

"So, does anyone actually like decorating?"

Both Harry and Remus shook their heads; as they went through the day they realized that it really wasn't much fun. Sure decorating your own room is fun enough but after that you tend to lose interest. Especially if the three decorating are two single men and an eight year old boy who would rather be out and about doing something else.

"Ok so here is what I propose, now that Harry's room is done and we've got the catalog I'll focus on my room, Remus focuses on his, we're both doing basic wall colors so it'll only be a simple spell. Plus we'll get done much quicker if we work separately. We pick out one of the model living rooms from the catalog and order that. All I really care about is that it doesn't look so dark in here so we'll lighten up the walls, same with the library. Remus will pick out a few books that Harry can keep in his room until we're sure the library is clear of anything dangerous. Remus will be in charge of the library but can take his time going through everything and organizing it how he wishes. The kitchen is ok but we'll let Misty change whatever she wants since it's mostly hers anyways. Any other rooms we'll lock up until we go through them but we can do that whenever. It will also allow Misty to clean them at her own pace rather than rushing. "

Harry was relieved, he wanted a home but it really was a lot of work.

"That works for me Padfoot, it's Wednesday today we'll make sure we have our rooms and the living room done by Friday, that way we can enjoy our weekend. On Monday I'll have an outline of Harry's lessons ready so we can start to develop a schedule."

With a nod to Remus, Sirius turned to Misty who was washing dishes, "Did you hear all that Misty?"

"Yes Master Sirius"

"Are you ok with decorating the kitchen?" She gave a nod. "Remember there is no hurry for the rest of the house. At your own pace start cleaning downstairs and move up. Until you've gone through a room make sure they stay locked and that they can only be opened by either Remus or I. As you clean a room, change the wall color to a lighter one. It doesn't matter what; it'll let us know that room is ok to go into. Also pick out a room and make it your own. You can take furniture from any of the old rooms, take Moony's old furniture, or take a look at the catalog and let me know so we can order it. I'll never give you clothes unless you wish it but I will give you money so that you can buy clothes and whatever else you may want. You got to keep yourself looking good for any of those male elves that grab your fancy."

With that they left a blushing elf in the kitchen and made their way to the living room. Remus pulled out a book while Sirius taught Harry how to play gobstones. After about an hour of this they all went to bed. Harry going into his own room for the first time.


	5. Chapter 5  Adjusting

AN: Hey everyone I'm looking for a beta please let me know if you're interested

_With that they left a blushing elf in the kitchen and made their way to the living room. Remus pulled out a book while Sirius taught Harry how to play gobstones. After about an hour of this they all went to bed. Harry going into his own room for the first time._

The next morning Harry woke up feeling a bit disoriented. It took him a minute to recognize the room and where he was at. When he did a small smile came to his face, it was a good way to wake up. In a brand new bed in his own room, life was good. He wasn't sure what time Remus would wake up so he figured he would get his morning stuff done now before he showered. He spent his thirty minutes meditating and another thirty getting familiarized with his core. He spent less time finding his way there and more actually handling his magic not doing much with it besides pulling on it, guiding it away, bringing it back, and then doing it again. Not a big step but enough to start showing him what was needed to start guiding it to his hands. Tomorrow would be his first attempt, he wasn't planning on doing anything with it but keep it right on the surface.

Fifteen minutes later he was showered, taken his potion, and greeted Misty. He sat down in the living room with the Wizard Etiquette book and a tea brought by Misty. While other things interested him more he figured now that we was living in the wizarding world he really should start reading up on it. Early on in his reading he had already seen things he could implement without much of fuss.

Courtesy requires return of all greetings, servants included.

When being introduced to a lady, a gentleman should delicately pass lips over the knuckles.

A true gentleman tips their hat to greet a lady, opens doors, and always walks on the outside.

It is customary to wait until everyone is seated at the table to begin eating dinner.

Arriving on time means arriving ten minutes prior to the time prescribed time.

Notes of gratitude should be sent out within two days of receiving gifts.

He was glad to be reading up on this. While some things seemed foolish, some just seemed like good manners and common courtesy. But of course it seemed like they went from one extreme to the others. How did it make sense that

A gentleman may take two ladies upon his arms but never may a lady take the arms of two gentlemen.

That one made his laugh, what made it look improper? This sounded like something from the Victorian era. Hell it was probably where they got it from. He was still chuckling when Remus walked in.

"What's so funny Harry?c"

"Moony have you ever read a book on Wizarding Etiquette?" He asked as he put up the cover of the book for him to see.

"Did you know that a gentleman may take the arms of two ladies but a lady can never take the arms of two men? Doesn't that seem a like a ridiculous double standard to you?"

"I guess it does to us now, but you could also see it as families trying to keep traditions and customs they grew up with alive. Imagine you grew up with these views and then you see the new generations not only not following them but mocking them as well. How would you feel? Some seem extreme but a lot of them are a very respectful way of addressing others.

Harry though about it, it made sense, still backwards, but could see the reasoning behind it. He knew there were flaws but maybe there could be a way to combine both views? That was something that he wanted to give more thought to in the future.

"How about we go and wake up Padfoot?" Moony said

Harry eagerly jumped up "Let's go"

"Wait a minute Harry, pass me those two pillows on the couch" With a wink he brought out his wand and transfigured them into masks, one was of a bear and the other was of a tiger. He gave one to Harry and kept the other for himself.

"Ok Harry once in his room we'll kneel on one side of his bed, I'll start poking him, the minute he wakes up you roar while I growl. As soon as he realizes it's a prank I want you to start running to the kitchen, I'll be right behind you. Make sure to be seated with your face as if nothing happened."

"Wicked, let's do it" Harry could barely contain his giggles.

They snuck to the side of the bed; honestly there was no reason to be so quiet Sirius looked like a really heavy sleeper. While Remus was tapping him Harry was eagerly waiting for Sirius's eyes to open. When they finally did, Harry and Remus jumped up and roared loudly. Sirius literarily jumped up and rolled off the bed. Remus and Harry were cracking up, tears were coming out, and when they looked at Sirius he looked about ready to throttle them so they made their escape. They could still hear Sirius yelling as they made it to the kitchen. When they sat down they looked at each other and started laughing again. When they could hear Sirius's steps approaching Remus did a shushing sound and made a great deal about maintaining a straight face.

Sirius walked in with an obviously fake angry face. Harry couldn't contain his grin as he said,

"Good morning Padfoot, breakfast?"

The corner of Sirius's lips went up.

"I hope you know this is war Moony, pup, you'll be given leniency this time but after that you're free game."

Both Harry and Remus chuckled when Sirius sat down and started eating his breakfast as if nothing happened. Once they were done, Sirius and Remus shared a look and then turned to Harry.

"Harry we wanted to discuss the talk we had yesterday. Go over some of the things that happened in Diagon Alley. Is that ok?" Harry nodded.

As they made their way to the living room Harry felt prepared for these questions, he kept in mind that everything he did was with the knowledge that he would be questioned later. Nothing was really unbelievable, random luck yes, but not impossible. They had obviously talked about it before because Remus didn't look confused.

"Ok Harry, who's Mr. Johnson and why would he leave you alone in downtown London?"

"Umm… Mr Johnson is the custodian in my school, he asked if I wanted to help him out during the summer and make some pocket money. We were already in London when I asked him so he did. I told him my uncle would pick me up so he thought nothing of it." Harry just shrugged his shoulders not really understanding why this question was being asked. He didn't quite understand that it was not normal to have an eight year old out and about alone.

"Harry that's one thing we have to address, from now on if you want to go anywhere you have to make sure to ask us and we'll take you. We're not going to cage you in, but we have to make sure we know where you are and safe. Do you understand?" Remus said trying to be nice but stern as well making sure that Harry knew this was not up for negotiation.

"So I can still go places but one of you will come with me?" Harry said to make sure. Receiving nods he shrugged as if to say ok.

They both smiled pleased that he wasn't putting up a fight. They turned and gave each other a look that Harry could not interpret; it seemed this was the part of the conversation they wanted to get to.

"You mentioned signing emancipation paperwork when you went to Gringotts. We wanted to know why and if you wanted to get it destroyed now that you are with us. Are you planning on getting emancipated when you're older?" Sirius said both nervous and sad.

Harry was shocked; he never considered how his godfather would view this. Harry thought about what he was going to say, he didn't want to destroy the paperwork but didn't want to hurt their feelings either.

"When I heard that I could get emancipated I was ecstatic. My relatives and I didn't get along very well so I was going to use that to get away. I wasn't ready yet so I wanted to do some research into schools, houses, and general wizard stuff to see if I could actually do it on my own. The goblins informed me of my status in the wizarding world. How I was a very popular figure and others might use me to further themselves along. Because of this they encouraged me to go ahead with the paperwork in case I ever ran into problems I would have a way of protecting myself." He fidgeted in his seat. "I would really rather have you guys looking out for me, it's nice to have someone to turn to. But at the same time I would like to have a backup plan. I can honestly say that I don't plan on ever submitting the paperwork but if a situation ever came up I would make sure to discuss it with you guys first and the three of us can decide if it's the best course of action. If there is a better option I would easily go with something else. But even if it did I would hope that it didn't mean that I would have to leave here. I really do like knowing I have a home where I'm welcome."

Sirius and Remus stared at Harry probably going through everything he had just said.

"So you don't plan on leaving here?" said Sirius, with a slight smile on his face.

Harry looked horrified, "Of course not, it's just it's nice to have a safety net. I hope I never have to use it, but what if one day I have to and it's not ready? Apparently there are powerful people out there who could be dangerous to me, not necessarily with violence but by using me for their interests rather than my own. I would like this to be something that nobody knows about and used only as a last resort. Also, I don't mean to hurt you because you both seem like truly nice people, but I've really only known you for two days, and while I hope this works out _**I **_need a safety net. Do you understand?" Harry said pleadingly.

Remus seemed to have a sad face but it didn't look hurt, more upset of the fact that Harry had reason to be cautious. Sirius just seemed to accept it and almost understand, probably thinking back to his own family and wishing he had had the same option. Harry was glad they understood because he would not get rid of that paperwork. With people like Fudge, Malfoy, and Dumbledore around he needed some leverage. To have Lord Black behind would be a big help but there was only so much Sirius could do. But if need be Lord Potter and Lord Black not to mention Gryffindor and Slytherin would be a force to reckon with. He didn't mean to lump in Dumbledore with Malfoy and Fudge but just like the other two Dumbledore would want some control over him even if it was just to send him back to his aunt to replenish the blood wards for the 'greater good' of course.

"Alright then moving on, so you want to be Lord Potter when you get to Hogwarts?" They both didn't seem to care either way; it seemed as if they just wanted understand.

"Yeah, I figure get it done right before so that I get it out of the way early on. I would like to have some time to adjust being and treated as a lord before I actually start having real responsibilities." Harry said with a shrug.

"Is that the reason why you were reading that book on Wizard Etiquette?" Asked Remus

"Well yeah, I don't want to have a title and then not know how to act. This way I can focus on learning proper etiquette and can try to implement some of it at Hogwarts and in the public. But if I don't to do something correctly or accidentally insult someone I'm still in that grey area."

Here Sirius chuckled, "Well if it's pureblood customs you want to learn then I can focus on that. If there is one thing I know how to do is be a Lord. My family taught me since I was a child. I can start teaching you manners and customs. Maybe even get you a dancing partner because every Lord should know how to dance. The ladies will love it." Sirius added with a wink.

Harry simply smiled, "I would love that Sirius."

"Ok moving on to another topic," it was obvious Sirius wanted to get out of this whole politic talk, "why did you need to buy clothes from a secondhand shop?"

"Well my aunt used to give me Dudley's old clothes to wear. While I have nothing against hand me downs Dudley is very big so they don't fit me correctly. I needed some decent stuff to wear with Mr. Johnson. Also my relatives are kind of greedy so I didn't want new clothes and risk them finding out I had money." Harry said with a shrug.

Sirius nodded, "Ok we'll make sure to make a trip and get you and Moony some decent clothes, including some of those dresses you prefer pup." Sirius smirked at a scowling Harry. He scowled harder when he heard Remus chuckling.

-oOo-

After that talk the rest of the week went by pretty smoothly. They went back to Diagon Alley and all three got new wardrobes. Sirius got them some brooms and got an account wallet for Remus and added Harry to his account, telling Harry to make sure and pull money from that Sirius's account rather than his own.

The only rule was that any big purchases had to be run by one of the adults first. Harry had no problems agreeing with that, anything he wanted but didn't want them to know about would be spent from his account instead.

One special stop was done almost at the end of the trip.

"Sirius, do you think I could get a pet?" Harry used his best puppy dog eyes and apparently they were good ones because they made their way to the shop.

Eeylops Owl Emporium was their first stop hoping to find Hedwig, Harry was sad that she wasn't there yet, he would make sure to get her when they went back to Hogwarts. He wasn't sure how long she had been in the shop before Hagrid had bought her. Remus ended up buying an owl either way.

They went to Magical Menagerie next and Harry saw a black kneazle kitten. The kneazle automatically raised its head when Harry walked in; when Harry saw it he knew that it was his. He saw two problems though, he still wanted Hedwig and he wondered if the kitten would have a problem with Remus.

Well he wasn't the son of marauder for nothing; he would figure out a way to get two pets into Hogwarts. Crookshanks, was able to deal with a werewolf so this cat should too. When Harry picked it up he saw it was a boy and started petting it.

"Boy, I want to take you home but you will have to behave with a dog and a werewolf in the house." He didn't really expect an answer but got a lick in the cheek anyways.

He was talking to the store owner when Sirius and Remus came in.

"What do you have there Harry?" Remus said with slight apprehension.

"I found a kneazle, can I get him?" He pushed the cat towards Remus before he could answer knowing this would be the real test. Luckily the cat went into his arms and just snuggled there. Remus looked quite shocked but smiled nonetheless.

"Well I see no problem with it, Padfoot?" Sirius was smiling as well.

"Sure sure let's get everything we need and get out of here then."

Together they got a cage, food, a couple of bowls, a bed, and a collar.

Once Harry was home he decided to name his kitten Apollo. There was no reason behind it beside the fact that he liked it. And so they're little family of three became four.

-oOo-

There had also made a trip in the muggle world. They ended up going to the mall where Harry introduced them to the arcade.

Sirius seemed to be the best at racing games and would cheer loudly whenever he won. Harry won when it came to shooting games. When Harry won over Sirius for the third time in a row he threw a fit and banged the rifle against the game. A quick reparo later it was decided that maybe they should move on to the next one. For some reason Remus seemed absolutely addicted to the claw game and wouldn't get off it. Harry found it funny that he was the one that had to drag out the two adults in order to go somewhere else.

"Come on Sirius it's time to go and Remus is probably going to need our help to carry the stuffed animals he won." Sirius pouted as if he wanted to object but Harry cut in "come on Sirius I want to go to the toy store." Sirius grinned and nodded.

Before they went to Remus they asked the attendant for a plastic bag. While Harry was packing up all the stuffed animals Sirius was talking Remus out of another game. Harry chuckled but didn't want to get involved, the whole situation was ridiculous but he knew he would always think back of it fondly.

When they were outside Harry turned to Remus.

"Do you know if there is any way to make muggle electronics work in a magical household?"

Remus thought of it, "I know that there are stones that can suppress the magic in an area to a level low enough that it can power muggle electronics safely. The smallest area would have to be about the size of a bedroom. You also can't use magic in the room or you'll mess up whatever electronics are in there. They came out in America a couple of years ago but are quite pricy so it's not available to the general masses yet."

Harry and Sirius looked at each other as if thinking about the possibilities. Sirius asked the next question.

"When you say pricy, do you mean pricy purchase but easily manageable with my funds or something that will break my Gringotts account?"

Remus chuckled, "Of course you could afford it Sirius, you're filthy rich."

"Sirius, what about if we get a room like this and set up a game room?" Harry said enthusiastically, "We can custom order games like the ones from the arcade, buy a TV and a few game systems. It can be like our relaxing room. We can even get movies. What do you think?"

Both Sirius and Remus looked intrigued. While both adults were discussing this Harry was thinking about what a wonderful business idea this could be. He was already contemplating setting up a shop in Diagon Alley that specialized in contacts and maybe include glasses. They could hire someone to run it and have Remus or hire someone else to research spells that could be applied to them to enhance them.

But with these stones they could open an arcade shop and place it in Hogsmeade. Having an arcade in Hogsmeade would bring in a killer profit on the Hogsmeade weekends. Having one in Diagon Alley would be beneficial too but he needed to see how much it would be. He would have to do some research on both topics and show them to Sirius and Remus. Harry was sure they would go for it if he said he was thinking of his future. The best part would be Remus could do most of the work starting it up, so when they made him a partner he wouldn't object. Remus could have an income coming in and his pride wouldn't be hurt. While things were ok now Harry was sure Remus wouldn't want to be living off of someone else for the rest of his life.

By the end of the day it was agreed that Remus would owl this company and order enough stones to cover one of the downstairs bedrooms. Before leaving the mall they went to the arcade store and managed to get the information for a company that sold these videogames.

When they had been in Diagon Alley they had set up a mail box which accepted both muggle and wizard mail. When you got muggle mail it would forward it to your wizarding address and vice versa. Because of this they added their names to various stores mailing address to continue ordering things by mail.

Overall it had been a very good weekend.

-oOo-

On Monday they started making more plans.

After breakfast Remus sat Harry down and told him he had a tentative schedule for him. His schooling would be from 8:00am – 3:00p.m and then handed him the schedule.

Monday – Friday (Remus)

8:00 – 9:30 – Reading and Writing

9:45 – 11:00 – Math

11:15 – 12:00 – Magical History

12:00 – 12:30 – Lunch

12:45 – 2:00 – Potions, Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, Defense of the Dark Arts (one each day of the week)

2:15 – 3:00 – Foreign Language

Sunday (Sirius)

7:00pm – 8:30pm – Wizarding Etiquette

Harry saw was happy with this especially when he was told that they wanted to put him in some kind of sport. Harry said he wanted to do Karate. He always thought something like that would be useful and fun but didn't have the means before. Remus made note of it and said he would look into it.

Once that talk was done the rest of the day was considered a free day. Harry spent time outside with Sirius being 'introduced' to flying. In the meantime Remus went through Harry's bookshelf and added any books that would be needed for his lessons from the library so that they would be prepared.

-oOo-

By mid September they had establish a good home life. Harry's lessons were working out really well. Harry felt like he was learning a lot of stuff he didn't know before. Remus was helping Harry work on his penmanship which was already improving from what it was at seventeen. As far as the magical subjects of course he wasn't learning practical stuff but he would be learning what each subject was and why it was useful. He was also making sure to establish himself as a smart kid that tended to pick things up quickly so that they wouldn't be shocked when he went to Hogwarts.

The most useful and interesting one was wizarding etiquette with Sirius. Not because he was a better teacher but because it was all new to him. It was also fascinating to see Sirius in a different light. When sessions began Sirius would almost transform into the Lord that he was. He also started making Harry change some of his mannerisms when class was going on. While he didn't want Harry acting like all the time he understood that it was useful for him to know these things.

The game room had also been set up. A week after the trip to the mall Remus had already ordered and received the magic suppression stones. He realized why it was pricy, the room that they were using was a cleared out bedroom and it required six stones, he could imagine a bigger room. They set it up with a TV and systems in the back of the room. Making it comfortable with a sofa and a couple of bean bag chairs. They ended up getting quite a few video arcade games. Sirius insisted on at least three racing ones, Remus got the claw game and filled it with sweets from Honeydukes, Harry asked for a few shooting games, some fighting games, and he had to get Pac-Man to complete the set. It became the favorite room for the three.

Harry had finished both of his potions as well and was very happy with the results. He looked like a healthy boy now. Luckily the adults attributed it to the change in diet and environment, that and they probably didn't think much on it. Harry had been enrolled in karate, it was once a week and quite fun. He was still a complete beginner but he could see how this would be helpful for his body and for future encounters plus it got him out of the house and with kids his own age.

His occlumency was progressing nicely; he was organizing his mind now. He had ironically used the Dursleys' house as his mindscape. While he hated that place, Dumbledore had ingrained it in him that while the blood wards were up it was the safest place for him. He organized all of his future knowledge into his cupboard, memories of the times with the Dursleys in his aunt's room. Anything from this timeline that he wanted private would be in his old room. The two less guarded places would be the kitchen and the living room. The kitchen would keep memories that he would prefer to stay private such as his 'initial' meeting with Sirius but if seen wouldn't reveal anything important. The living room would hold what he wanted others entering his mind to think he was thinking. Almost like a censored look into his head. He didn't want Dumbledore to know that he knew occlumency so if he looked into his mind and only managed to see current thoughts it could be explained as him being a natural occlumens whose barriers were there but not fully developed yet.

Wandless magic was where Harry was thriving. He had already managed levitation. It was difficult because he was trying to do it all with just intent, he wasn't using wand movement or saying an incantation. It was making it harder but he wanted to master that technique. He knew that these weren't the usual steps but he would rather take a bit longer doing it this way rather than learning it the easier way and then go back and try it silently. He wondered if they originally taught kids to do it this way not telling them it was easier another way would they be able to learn it at eleven. He knew that the most difficult part was mental.

The book on goblins was also quite interesting, it helped him understand them a little more. He was going to ask Remus if there was a book on Gobbledegook. He wasn't planning on learning the language but he wanted to learn some of the key phrases, at least greeting and goodbyes. Now that wandless magic and occlumency were at a practicing phase he wanted something else to read. He was going to move onto magical creatures. While he liked Hagrid he definitely wasn't the most thorough teacher so he would focus on more of the details. Organizing his memories would take a while so he would focus on creatures before he moved onto building up some barriers.

Apollo was a constant companion; he was quite smart and seemed to understand what was going on around him. Harry wondered what the odds were that both of his pets seemed unusually intelligent. Apollo was rarely seen away from Harry. If Harry was in his lessons he would lay on the bed quietly in the room, if he was in the game room he'd find a spot either on the sofa or on one of their laps.

Harry started thinking back to a conversation he had about two weeks ago.

They were in the game room watching Home Alone, when it was over they turned it off and looked at Harry.

"We need to talk to you about something Harry" said a nervous Remus.

"Do you know what werewolves are?" said Sirius jumping right into it.

"Only what I've seen in movies, you know the whole full moon turn into a wolf thing. Are you telling me that they're real?" Harry said putting on an astonished face. He didn't want Remus to think he already had some horrified view on it. Not good or bad just surprised.

Remus nodded, "Yes Harry they exist, werewolves are made when a person is bitten by a werewolf on the full moon. On the full moon they turn and need to be secluded because they tend to lose themselves to the wolf and are dangerous"

Here Sirius cut in obviously not liking how Remus was explaining it. "Harry, werewolves are normal people who turn into a wolf on the full moon. They are only a danger if let loose around humans, most stay in the forests or cage themselves in so that they won't be a risk to someone else. Just like people there is good and bad, once someone is bitten they decide how to deal with their condition. Bad people turn into bad werewolves good people try their best to not hurt others, especially since they were probably attacked themselves. Do you understand so far?"

Harry nodded, "So it depends on the person whether they're a danger or not?"

Remus answered this time, "Somewhat, when they transform they lose their minds and can't control their actions. It's before you transform that you take the proper precautions against it. It's the person in them that decides what limitations to give."

Harry shrugged, "Ok it doesn't sound so bad, as long as they are careful it doesn't really matter then."

Here Remus let out a breath and Sirius grinned.

"Harry I wanted you to know that I got bitten when I was a young boy," He paused seeing Harry's eyebrows raise in surprise, but when no questions were asked he kept going, "I've been transforming in the basement here. We made sure that the bars were secure and also put wards on the cage and the door to make sure I stayed in. I also take a potion that helps me retain my mind during my transformations; Sirius also stays with me as Padfoot since I won't attack animals. We've made it as safe as we possibly can to not risk you Harry but you needed to know what I am and I needed to make sure you're comfortable with it. If you're not, don't worry I can move back to my home but I'll still continue to teach you, or we can get you another tutor if you feel safer. Whatever you decide is fine."

Harry felt saddened that Remus still felt people would turn away from him because of his condition. "You would leave?" Harry said with a devastated face, "I don't want you to leave Moony, you've already transformed while living here and nothing has happened. If anything I'm safer now that I know because I can make sure to stay in my room during the full moon. One night a month is no reason for you to consider leaving. Anyways if Sirius is down there with you and you manage to get out then he can hurt you enough to stop you before you do anything. It sounds as if you guys have barrier after barrier after barrier. The odds of something happening are very small, so I don't really care."

Sirius jumped up and smacked Remus in the back "See I told you it would be alright Moony, you worry too much." He went over to pick up Harry. "Pup you're the best, I knew you wouldn't care but he didn't want to feel as if he was lying to you." He leaned into Harry's ear and whispered "He's one of them honest werewolves."

After that they stayed sitting down and started to talk about the marauders and how they became animagus to keep Moony company. This brought up some of their pranks and they even mentioned how the marauders map got confiscated by filch. This gave Harry an idea but didn't want to act on it yet.

-oOo-

Initially Harry thought that when he managed to move in with Sirius it would be constant pranks, going out, having fun. While he was very happy to be living there he realized how much the three were adjusting.

Sirius tried his best to remain the outgoing joking prankster he was known as but sometimes he would daze out and stay quiet for a few moments. While he was much better than before it was obvious that he was still recuperating. It was rather naïve of Harry to think that seven years in Azkaban could be dealt with in a couple of months. He just wasn't aware of it last time because he saw so little of Sirius. It almost made him happier seeing this going on. He hated that Sirius had issues but he was glad that he was dealing with them. It wasn't going to happen overnight but it would get better.

Remus was used to being lonely and on his own that sometimes you could tell he got overwhelmed. Almost as if he didn't know how to deal with the people around him. You could tell he was happy but so much changed overnight that he still adjusting.

Harry was probably adjusting the most. First he was dealing with the fact that even though key events would still happen the same, they way they got to them would change. For example, he wasn't sure whether to allow Hermione to be attacked by the troll. But he knew that if he didn't their friendship might change since that is what cemented their friendship last time. Harry also wanted to stop Draco from becoming a Death Eater, he knew Draco wasn't really just misguided. He wanted others to be able to approach him and not think him biased. To achieve this he would have to pull away from Ron a bit, Ron was very close minded in the beginning, he needed to grow up a bit first. Then there was Ginny, he realized that his Ginny was no more. It saddened him to think this way but it had to be, he couldn't go into this life with expectations, he wasn't the same boy she fell in love with the first time. He wasn't going to be the shy, nervous, naïve boy. All these things plagued his mind but he didn't want to make any decisions yet.

Also he had always been independent, always trying to do things himself, but now he had two adults who constantly hovered. He hoped this would diminish in time but for now they were always around. While he hated it at the Dursleys he had gotten used to a lot of time alone to just think. He also wasn't used to not having chores, he sometimes got jittery and while the game room helped, he constantly got scolded my Misty for trying to help. This habit was one he hated; he hated feeling like it was his job to do everything and take care of himself rather than depend on others.

He hoped time would help all three. At least they had a good schedule to keep them on track until they adjusted further.


	6. Chapter 6  Holidays

_He hoped time would help all three. At least they had a good schedule to keep them on track until they adjusted further._

-oOo-

In the middle of November they received a Christmas party invitation from the Ministry. Sirius brought it up during breakfast.

"So what do you guys think? Should we go?" Sirius asked the other two.

Remus shrugged, "It lands on the day after the full moon so I'll be resting, you guys are on your own for that one." He didn't look very sorry; it was almost like he was glad he had the excuse handy.

"I'm in if you want to Sirius, will the minister be there?" Harry said with an innocent expression.

"Yes he will, why do you ask pup?" Sirius said suspicious.

"No reason, no reason, do you think we'll get a chance to talk?" Harry said with the same expression, trying to be nonchalant.

"Ok Harry what's up?" Sirius never did have much patience.

"Well, I was thinking that if we were to talk and he were to learn that before you showed up I knew nothing about magic but because no one in the wizarding world checked up on me. I never even knew who my parents were until Sirius showed up. I don't have much that connects me to my parents but some journals, oh how this little orphan wished he could practice some of the spells, maybe it would almost feel like my parents are alive teaching me, if only for a little while. Why the person who could make this happen would be like my hero. The boy who lived would be oh so grateful to him." Harry said this with such a longing expression; he even managed to get his eyes watery.

Remus looked humouredly appalled, while Sirius mouth just dropped open.

"Harry if you could pull that off, it would be brilliant!" Sirius yelled.

"Merlin Harry you've got your dad's mischievousness but with your mom's smarts. This is something your dad would think of but only your mom could pull off. I say try it and see how much of your mom you have." Harry grinned when he heard what Remus said.

"Do you think it would help if a innocent man where to say how the most important thing to him was his godsons happiness. Anyone who helps with that would be a friend in his eyes." Sirius said with a wink.

Harry couldn't stop the giggle that came out. He was sure that Fudge would go for it if only to have the boy who lived support for the next election. Keeping Sirius happy would just be a bonus.

"So I guess this means we're going then huh?" He asked looking at Harry who nodded. "We need to teach you at least a couple of dances so that you can get by if it comes up, although you probably won't need it with all the ladies focused on me."

Harry grinned and winked at Remus, "Padfoot you're just scared that once the girls take a look at my baby greens and my stylish hair they won't look twice in your direction."

Remus chuckled and mumbled something that sounded like, "Oh great there's two of them" but Harry couldn't be certain.

By the end of the conversation they had a bet going on which would ask the best girl to dance. How they were going to judge they weren't sure, Harry thought Sirius was doing it just to make the night more interesting. Harry was worried that there wouldn't be any girls his age to ask, luckily he was still cute enough where he could ask women and they would probably say yes claiming he was an "adorable little guy." The only reason he went along with it was because he knew it would make his godfather happy and more importantly he already knew the basic steps to the dances and all he really needed was to improve his technique a bit.

With the party approaching they prepared Harry as much as they could. Etiquette lessons with Sirius continued but focused more on greetings, dinners, and dancing. He was still a child so it was ok to mess up but they wanted him to be able to start applying his lessons wherever he could.

Sirius ended up asking his cousin Andromeda if she would mind helping Harry learn how to dance enough for the party. She really was a wonderful lady, real down to earth. You could tell that she was raised a Black by how she carried herself but like Sirius didn't think that it was the most important thing in life. He wished Tonks could have come but she was in Hogwarts. Ted did come but he spent all his time with Sirius in the game room. Andromeda said she would bring Tonks during the summer so they could meet. Their lessons went well; she taught him the steps in one lesson and then practiced for the next few lessons until Harry felt comfortable enough to do it in public.

Remus talked to him about the people that would most likely be at the party. He gave him a bit of information on them so he wouldn't be completely unaware by anyone. He also told him who to be wary of, who would most likely approach him, and who were the boring people so that he could stay away. From Hogwarts they assumed Dumbledore would be there of course, he occasionally took McGonagall but that wasn't certain.

They went shopping for some formal robes as well as Christmas gifts. Harry only bought six gifts, Sirius, Remus, Andromeda, Garuk, Misty, and Apollo. Those were the only people he knew well enough in this timeline. He got Sirius a pinball machine, Remus two of those 3D Puzzles; one of Big Ben and the other of the Eiffel Tower. He wasn't sure what to get Andromeda so he figured he would play it safe with some perfume. Garuk was probably the hardest but he asked Sirius to get him a simple dagger, it wasn't too flashy but he was hoping the gesture would be appreciated. For Misty he bought a small silver locket with a picture of him in it, Apollo got a scratching post.

-oOo-

It was about a week before the Christmas party that Harry brought up his business ideas to Remus and Sirius. He was going to wait on it but he didn't know how long research and then acquiring the proper supplies and buildings would take. He wanted it to be done before he started Hogwarts but didn't want things to be done incorrectly because they felt rushed.

"Sirius, Remus I would like to talk to you." Harry said making sure to sound serious.

Both of them looked a little worried as if ready to receive bad news so Harry cut in,

"It's not good or bad it's just an idea I had and wanted to see what you guys thought about it." There was no reason to make them worry if there was no reason to.

"So, I had two ideas for starting a business." He decided to just put it out there, plus he wanted to see their expressions. They were both so surprised that their jaws dropped. It was quite amusing.

"What exactly do you mean Harry?" Remus the most composed one asked.

"Well when I was looking for contacts I was surprised that the wizarding world didn't offer them. If they were introduced I'm sure they would be a big hit. We could research spells that could be applied safely to them. Maybe like keeping them moist so they don't have to be taken out every night, durability, color change, and non breakable to start and then we can expand on that. I figure Remus can help with the research and experimentation, I could pay for either the building or the contacts and Sirius could do the other. That way the three of us could be partners."

He gave them time to analyze everything he had just said. Letting them process it.

"I'm not sure if it's even possible but we could buy a few and play around with them. IF it works we can start doing it in bulk and go into business"

Remus smiled, whether at the idea or at the prospect of research he wasn't sure but a smile was never a bad thing. They turned to Sirius to see his expression, he looked as if he would join in but didn't really care either way.

"It could work Harry, I'm almost positive it would. Contacts are small enough that it would only require a small shop, open maybe a couple of days a week. Depending on how it goes we could expand to glasses and sunglasses." Remus said trailing off as he started mumbling to himself. Harry smiled and turned to Sirius.

"I'll put in whatever money you need because I agree that it would profit in the long run, but I don't think I could contribute more than that. I'm not good at the research especially when I don't find it very interesting" Sirius said with an almost embarrassed smile.

Harry smiled glad that this was the reaction that he got. He wanted most of the work to be done by Remus so that he wouldn't feel as if they were just giving him a share of the profits. Remus looked pleased as well, as if that was going through his head too or was just amused at Sirius.

"What's the other one pup?" Sirius said remembering Harry had said two.

"Well I was thinking of putting up an arcade in Hogsmeade and maybe Diagon Alley depending on how it goes. We can either buy or rent a building and buy the stones and the video games. This one would be rather pricy but would make a killing especially on the Hogsmeade weekends. We could have a front room that would require students to sign a contract stating that no magic is allowed in the arcade or they risk a fine covering whatever machines get damaged. We'll also have someone in the front converting wizarding currency to tokens with our logo on them that will work with the machines. It also has the bonus of working as free advertisement if the kids take them home. We're going to need Moony's researching skills again." Harry couldn't help the sheepish smile that came. They did really did use Remus's brain a lot. "The contract needs to be built with no loopholes, but more importantly we need a spell that prevents the tokens from being copied or multiplied by someone other than us. We also need to find a company that will sell stuffed animals or prizes that we can put in the claw machines in bulk. We put up a few of those so that they can be things boys win for their dates. Same thing applies here too, equal partnership between the three of us."

Sirius jumped up absolutely ecstatic, "Now that's an idea I can become excited about. Plus it would give us a place where you can come and see us during Hogsmeade weekends and still have fun. If Moony can come up with those spells it would be a constant flow of money coming in since Hogwarts students will always be coming through. If word gets out younger kids are going to want to come as well. We'll set up the floo system in the front room and have a ward that doesn't allow kids under eleven out without an adult. That way parents can give their kids money and leave them there with the assurance that they'll be safe."

Harry piped in, "In the muggle world they also have a system where each video game gives off tickets and you collect them for prizes. The more tickets the bigger the prize. We can have a display shelf with the prizes and have them try to win them. The only thing would be that they all wouldn't be video games some would be redemption games that reward a player by their score with tickets. But all that we can decide on later."

"I agree with Sirius this is definitely something else that would see good profit. Especially considering that it would be new to the magical community; most wizards don't even know what they are. The best part is that unlike the contacts we know that it would work since we've already done it here. Finding the spells and making the contracts would be the hardest part but we know it's possible since there are already wards that prevent the copying of certain books. After that it's just getting it set up. I say we do both but focus on the arcade first since the contact shop will take longer. We can start to look into more details after the New Years."

Harry was ecstatic when he heard this, he was hoping for the best but there was still a part of him that thought they would laugh and think of him as a silly kid with adult ambitions. Sirius must have seen his expression because he put a hand around his shoulder and brought him closer.

"Harry they were really good ideas, there was no real reason to be nervous. But even if they weren't all we would have done was talk about a way to try and make it work. Remember you said you like having someone to be there for you? Well that's what we would have done. Helped you either think of something else or help you improve on it, giving advice where we could to help you along. The same as I would hope you would do for either Moony or me. That's what family does. Do you understand that?"

Remus nodded along in silent agreement and Harry couldn't stop his eyes from watering.

"Thank you" was all he could manage but it was enough.

After that it seemed like most of Remus's free time was spent cleaning the library so he could have a place to start his research. Sirius just laughed telling Harry that he had created a monster.

-oOo-

Finally the day of the party arrived and while Harry and Sirius were getting ready Remus was already resting. He wanted to make sure he was well rested for their first Christmas together. They had also explained what a pensieve was and had decided they were going to buy one so they could show the night to Remus after. Harry thought it was kind of random but it was Sirius so he figured it was to be expected.

They both looked pretty sharp in their dress robes as they arrived in the Ministry. Harry was quite proud of the fact that he landed standing. Granted it looked like he was falling over an edge for a while but it was an improvement. Before they entered the hall Sirius turned to him.

"Harry I want you to know that if you feel overwhelmed at any time let me know and we'll go back home. There is nothing more important than how you feel, especially not some stuffy politicians. We're only here for you to meet a few people and to have some fun not to feel uncomfortable ok? If it gets to be too much turn to me and say 'I hope Apollo isn't bugging Moony too much' that'll be our code phrase to leave, understood?" Harry appreciated how much of an effort Sirius made to make sure Harry understood how important he was to him.

"Thanks Sirius I'll make sure to remember that, I really do appreciate it." Harry said with a smile, which turned into a smirk, "Unless this is a ploy to leave because you're nervous I'm going to get the best girl in there."

Sirius let out a loud laugh and play punched Harry's shoulder, "Sure pup, you just keep thinking you have a chance"

They walked in and saw a hall full of people, there was music in the background but nobody was dancing, apparently dancing only happened after dinner. As they walked around Harry didn't think it would be so bad until the first person introduced themselves. It seems as if this was the opening a lot of people were hoping for. Harry shook many hands and kissed many knuckles before he saw somebody he recognized. He did a double take before he realized that it was Mr. and Mrs. Diggory and Cedric. It was curious to see Cedric at ten.

"Nice to meet you Cedric, my name is Harry" He put his hand out with a friendly smile. He wanted to make friends with him before the tournament this time.

They made small talk while the adults where talking, of course Quidditch came up and they had made plans to fly together. After asking Cedric's dad they agreed that Cedric would owl with a date.

As they were making their way to their table the Minister showed up.

"Harry Potter, do my eyes deceive me?" Harry rolled his eyes and sent a wink to Sirius.

"Minister Fudge it is a pleasure to meet you, my godfather has told me about you" Fudge seemed please that Harry recognized him. It looked like he wanted to make conversation, probably wanted to be seen talking to the boy who lived.

"How are you liking being back in wizarding world Harry?"

Here is where Harry would start his charm, he brought up his most childlike expression, "I really like it Minister, I've heard so many things about my parents, and even gotten a few journals from their vaults that belonged to them." He looked down as if suddenly sad, "See I didn't know them before, my relatives didn't tell me about magic. But now that I've been reading their journals it almost feels as if I'm getting to know them." He managed to make his eyes teary, when he learned to do this on command he didn't know, but he was grateful for it. "If only I could practice what they wrote about, it would almost be like they're here with me teaching me what they knew. I miss them so much, especially during Christmas time." Harry really hoped his parents weren't angry for using them like that. Hell, his mom might be, his dad would probably be cheering him on.

Fudge looked horrified, whether it was at what he heard, or it looking as if he made the boy who lived cry. "Oh Harry of course you miss them, I'll tell you what my boy, as a Christmas present I'll allow you to practice magic from now on without getting in trouble. " He said this with such pride as if this was the best idea he's ever had.

Harry put on ecstatic. "You would really do that for me Minister?"

Fudge puffed up "Of course Harry, just come by in a few months and show me what you learned."

"I will Minister, and maybe you can show me some magic too. A man like you must know some brilliant stuff." Harry knew he was putting it on rather thick but he was going to try and keep this man on his side while he was still in office.

"Come Minister" Harry said grabbing his hand, "let me tell my godfather what you did, he'll want to thank you too." Sirius saw them approaching and had a gleam in his eye.

"Sirius Sirius you'll never guess what." Harry said jumping up and down slightly. "The Minister said that as a Christmas present he was going to allow me to practice magic early. He told me he wanted me to be able to study my parent's journals so I could feel closer to them. Can you believe it?"

Harry could tell that Sirius was amused at the situation, it was obvious Harry was putting on a show and Fudge believing it all and swelling with pride. "Why that really is a good present Harry. Thank you for allowing him this minister. This will make it a very good Christmas." He said while shaking his hand. "Let's go sit down Harry it's time to eat, say goodbye to the minister."

"Goodbye minister I have to go eat, thank you again"

As they were walking to their table Harry couldn't help but look at Sirius and smirk. Sirius just shook his head chuckling silently.

Harry felt like he was being watched and looked towards his table and saw that he was at the same table as Dumbledore and McGonagall. Apparently the headmaster had been watching them because he looked amused. Harry wondered what all he saw. Before they got there Harry got a wicked idea and pulled Sirius to him and whispered

"Sirius I got my girl" Sirius looked surprised but asked, "Who?"

"That's McGonagall with Dumbledore right?" Sirius nodded. "I'm going to steal the headmaster's date." Harry said with a wicked gleam in his eye.

Sirius grinned widely, "If you can manage to get her to dance with you pup you'll win the bet, but if you don't it's my win."

Harry put out his hand "Deal, _when_ I win I have a dare I want you to do."

Sirius shrugged probably thinking he was getting off easy anyways.

They sat down with Harry taking the seat next to Professor McGonagall and Sirius taking the seat next to him. Dumbledore on the other side of McGonagall was staring at the pair curiously.

"Sirius my boy how are you doing?" He said with a small smile.

Sirius smiled "Very good now Headmaster. Harry let me introduce you." Harry stood up. "This is Professor Dumbledore the Headmaster at Hogwarts." Harry put out his hand.

"It's very nice to meet you Headmaster"

"It's very nice to see you again Harry" he said with the twinkle in his eye that Harry remembered.

Sirius continued, "This is Professor McGonagall, Minnie if you please, she teaches Transfiguration at Hogwarts."

Harry grabbed her hand and kissed it. "It is a pleasure to meet such a lovely lady Professor McGonagall, makes me wish I was starting Hogwarts already." Harry said while flashing his most charming smile and a slight wink.

As expected her lips thinned but you could see she was slightly amused. "It's nice to meet you to Mr. Potter; I see you've been spending time with your godfather."

Harry acted coy, "He's been teaching the proper way to act in front of a lady, and please call me Harry, Mr. Potter doesn't suit me at all. May I call you Minnie? After all you're not my teacher yet."

Harry could see the headmaster's twinkle go into overdrive. Sirius was coughing trying to conceal his laughter. Professor McGonagall didn't look amused though.

"I don't think that would be entirely appropriate Mr. Potter since I will become your teacher." He wasn't sure if he had ever seen her lips so thin.

Harry figured he was already in might as well go all the way.

"Nonsense Minnie we're amongst friends" and before she could retort "oh look it's time to eat"

He sneaked a glance at her, he had never seen look so annoyed, while she looked exasperated she didn't look angry. It was more annoyed especially at seeing Dumbledore's amused expression.

He gave a side glance to Sirius and smirked, Sirius looked positively amused and just gave him a thumbs up.

"Mmm this looks good, what are you having Headmaster?"

"I chose the ham my boy and I must say it does look quite delectable." Harry loved that you could always count on Dumbledore to help the conversation along.

"How about you Minnie, are you enjoying your meal?" She was purposely ignoring him, and Harry couldn't help but be more amused. He understood why Sirius would try and rile people up sometimes. It was absolutely delightful.

Sirius decided to jump in, "Harry she's probably one of the ones who likes to enjoy their meal in silence, a true lady."

Harry nodded, "I must say I don't know where that food goes Minnie. Whatever you do to keep that figure is ok with me."

You could hear Sirius coughing probably choked on some of his food. McGonagall on her part looked as if she couldn't believe Harry's nerve. He just gave her a smile and started eating.

After their meal was done the dancing started. Harry knew that if he was going to get her to dance he had to do it in way where she couldn't say no. He saw Dumbledore asking McGonagall to dance. Harry waited until she got up before he nudged Sirius and gave him a 'look at this' look.

"I'm sorry Headmaster, but would you allow me the pleasure of taking this beautiful lady to dance first?" She looked trapped, knowing that Dumbledore would say yes and knowing she couldn't say no without being rude.

"Of course my boy, it's hard to let go but you seem like a respectable gentlemen."

Harry put his hand out and waited for Dumbledore to place McGonagall's hand in his. She had a slight pink tint in her cheeks but went with him anyways. He probably looked ridiculous out there being shorter than her but he was having fun anyway, she was an extremely graceful dancer. He was ok but still a bit awkward but she made up for it marvelously. As they made their way back he turned to her.

"Thanks for the dance professor, I really appreciated it. Oh which reminds me, Sirius said I had to find my first girl to court tonight so I chose you. Please expect an owl with an invitation to dinner. "He kissed her hand and handed it back to Dumbledore before she had a chance to respond. As they walked away he gave her a wink and a smile, he had to make sure he didn't talk to her the rest of the night if her expression was anything to go by.

He went to Sirius who was waiting for him and grinned. "So I told her that you required me to find my first girl to court tonight and I chose her. She is to expect an owl with a dinner invitation. That way she'll put the blame on you." He said with a smirk.

"And I thought I had some nerve pup that was brilliant. She looked livid but stayed quiet since she was in public. Next time she sees you she's going to eat you alive." He said with shrug of his shoulders. " Come on let's keep mingling."

They kept walking around and met the Malfoys, Parkinsons, and the Goyles. He was polite enough but didn't want to appear too friendly yet. He could feel many eyes in the room following his every move. They were judging everything he and Sirius did.

At one point he was standing alone while Sirius was dancing when the headmaster walked up.

"How are you enjoying the party my boy?"

"It's ok Headmaster I'm getting kind of tired though, I want to be able to get up early tomorrow. How are you enjoying it?"

"It's a lively bunch; my date seems to be very popular this year." Harry looked around and saw Professor McGonagall dancing with Kingsley.

"Do you think I should cut in?" He said with a scowl on his face, he decided that when he started this whole courting thing he was going to go all out and have fun with it. He didn't know how long he would keep it up but it would be fun while it lasted.

"I think she's ok for now my boy, we'll check in again in a couple of minutes." He said with a smile. "How are you enjoying living with your godfather?" Harry knew that Dumbledore was debating whether to try and push him back to his aunt or let him be. For some reason now that he was away from his aunt and getting to know his parents better he felt like he was more connected with them than before. He wondered whether his mother's protection staying was still present, or if it was a time travel thing. Sure it was based on blood but Harry thought love was more important and he had never felt more loved than he felt now. Maybe it was stronger now without the Horcrux in him.

"I love it; he's been real good to me. He got me a tutor to continue my schooling, my own room, clothes, toys. Plus he always puts me before anything else and makes sure I know it." Here he felt Dumbledore enter his mind, he hoped the Headmaster wasn't going to go deep in because he still didn't have any barriers. Luckily he didn't so Harry just showed him some memories of the Dursleys and some time spent with Remus and Sirius watching movies. When Dumbledore pulled out you could tell that it affected him. His twinkle had diminished and he looked like he aged in a matter of seconds. "He also enrolled me in Karate so I can be around kids my age. I'm learning lots."

"I'm very happy for you my boy; do you still keep in touch with your relatives?"

Harry gave him a baffled look, "No Headmaster, all my life they hated me and I never understood why, once Sirius came and I learned it was because of my magic. I understood that they're hatred stemmed from fear of magic rather than the person I was. Regardless, I realized that they never even attempted to get to know me. All they saw was a wizard and nothing else; the fact that we were family didn't matter. Someone like that is someone I would rather not be associated with. Anyone who judges others or allows someone to judge others without getting to know them are the kind of people who allowed you know who to get into power. Merlin, if all I saw when I met Sirius was an ex convict I would never have had the chance to have the father figure I have now. I took time to get to know him before I passed judgment and I'm eight years old. Why an adult can't do that I don't understand." Harry didn't realize when he started ranting but blushed when he caught himself. "I'm sorry Headmaster I didn't mean to say all that it just makes me upset"

Dumbledore looked pensive but smiled nonetheless "No need to worry my boy, we all have our troubles, do you not think it's rather harsh to already have a hatred for people who don't like you do?"

Harry frowned, he wasn't sure it was just a question or if he was being manipulated, "No, I don't think so, I don't think I really hate these people I just don't respect them or would want to associate with them. People should have their own opinions, whether I agree with them or not is not the issue, its acting on it that bothers me. When my aunt saw me I feel like all she saw my mother and father and the jealousy and hatred she held for them. To pass that along to me and treat me as they did was inexcusable. They saw my accidental magic and made me believe there was something wrong with me." Harry shook his head, he was starting to understand why others got angry when they found out how he was treated. With an older mindset he realized that to do that to a child is wrong. "It's wrong to make someone grow up believing that. Dudley would torment me and they would allow it, they were meant to watch over me but they didn't. I was forced to take care of myself because others would look the other way."

Towards the end of that statement Harry started thinking back on how Dumbledore allowed his students to be bullied by Snape and he never did anything about it. It wasn't right, Snape was a brave man that was certain but it didn't give him the right to act that way. He was a bitter man who took old grudges or annoyances out on innocent kids. Harry wanted to make sure that Dumbledore knew where he stood on this; he didn't want Snape fired or anything like that, just to act as a teacher, an adult, should, impartial and fair. If his position as a spy required him to be nicer to the Slytherins he could have done it by being nicer to them or awarding them extra things rather than being cruel to others. Dumbledore should have stepped in last time and monitored it more closely, but like his life in the Dursleys he just turned a blind eye.

Dumbledore was about to respond when Augusta Longbottom walked up with chubbier and apparently shyer Neville Longbottom.

"Lady Longbottom always a pleasure to see you, may I introduce you to Harry Potter" putting a hand on Harry's shoulder he brought him a step forward.

He automatically went for her hand and gave her the proper greeting.

"Lady Longbottom a pleasure to meet you."

She gave him a searching look, Harry understood why Neville was intimated by her. Harry was seventeen and he was slightly unsettled, at least he was better at hiding it.

"Mr. Potter may I introduce you to my grandson Neville."

Neville walked up and presented his chubby hand to Harry with a small smile. Harry smiled back and appreciated that even as a child Neville never did really stare at his scar or make a big deal about him being Harry Potter.

While the adults talked Harry and Neville started chatting as well. Harry brought up gardening in hopes of getting Neville to talk more comfortably and talk he did. Harry decided to try and become closer to him in this timeline. Neville would a make a good friend, he was as loyal as they came but didn't hold the same prejudices as others, and also wasn't prone to jealousy. Maybe he could help Neville develop that self confidence earlier this time.

"Hey Neville do you think you're grandmother would let you come over to my home? We have a wicked game room that we could play in." Harry said hopefully, while he loved Sirius and Remus he missed having friends. Best part would be that this time he would be better equipped to not put them in so much danger.

"Really you want me to come over?" He asked timidly, Harry nodded with an eye roll as if to state 'of course, I asked didn't I?'

"I'm sure it would be ok with grams I would have to ask though; can you have your godfather send an owl to ask her?" He said nervously.

"Yeah shouldn't be a problem. Well I'm going to go see where he's at, I'll owl you after the holidays ok?"

He said his goodbyes and went to go look for Sirius who was dancing with some lady. They stayed for a bit longer, mostly mingling, they said also said hello to the Bones and the Zabinis before they left.

-oOo-

Next morning he was woken up by Sirius's hollering around the house that it was presents time. Remus good-naturedly got up and went to make sure Harry was up. Unfortunately, Remus said that breakfast came first. Suffice to say Sirius was very disappointed.

After breakfast they opened the presents, Harry was voted to be the Santa and give out the presents. From Sirius he got a drawing to go under the Potter crest wall in his room, it was of a stag and a doe. Harry loved it and thought it would go perfect on his wall. A watch with a snitch design, and a small pensive, apparently that was the reason they had brought it up before. Harry thought it was brilliant, it was probably about half the size of Dumbledore's, it obviously couldn't hold as many memories but it served its purpose. This was by far one of his favorite gifts.

From Remus he got a set of journals for him to write on. They were warded to only open for him, he would put his finger over the lock and it would prick his finger to open. A practice snitch, it didn't go as fast as the ones in Hogwarts but it would still be fun to play with. Last was a silver necklace with the shape of a cat. He turned to Remus questioningly,

"It's a portkey, you don't have an animagus so I gave you one after Apollo. Say 'marauder home' and it will bring you back here; I want you to use it if you are ever in trouble."

From the Tonks he got a couple of DVD's of muggle dancing. On the note it said to start watching them because once they were done with the formal dances they were going to move to something more fun.

He didn't think he would get a gift from Misty but she got him a pair of blue fuzzy gloves. He was definitely going to wear them, he really did like that elf, since she was the only girl in the house she acted like a mother hen with the three.

They spent the rest of the day in the game room watching movies with hot chocolate and making sure Misty joined them.

*Special thanks to Dark Hearted Dragon's Master for becoming my beta*


	7. Chapter 7  Birthday Party

_He didn't think he would get a gift from Misty but she got him a pair of blue fuzzy gloves. He was definitely going to wear them, he really did like that elf, since she was the only girl in the house she acted like a mother hen with the three._

_They spent the rest of the day in the game room watching movies with hot chocolate and making sure Misty joined them._

Time seemed to pass by a lot quicker than Harry expected it to after the holidays. When Remus wasn't tutoring, you could find him submerged in research. Owls came and went trying to figure out the spells needed for the tokens. After receiving the ward used by publishing companies he was able to adjust the spell to work with the token. They got a company in the muggle world to mass produce some plastic tokens with a stag on one side and PFH on the other. Remus and Sirius had decided that since it was Harry's idea initially he should pick out the name and logo. The contract was enough to have drawn up and approved by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. They wanted to ensure no one could find any loopholes in it. Sirius had gone ahead and bought a shop in Hogsmead. Harry was in charge of ordering the games. Ultimately it was decided to not use any redemption games yet. This would allow them a chance to see how well the idea was received. Prong's Fun House Arcade was officially being opened on the 1st of August. The day prior to it would used to have Harry's Birthday Party.

Remus had also managed to order about twenty pairs of contacts and was experimenting with those. Since Harry was the only one with that wore contacts he would usually end up the guinea pig. Honesty it had not progressed much, Remus had at least managed to put a self adjusting prescription to the contacts that went into effect once they were put on. Harry had already switched to these, but was really waiting for them to become self lubricating so they wouldn't have to be taken out every night. It probably would have been done by now but Moony was focusing most of his time on the arcade. Sirius and Harry tried to help, but they quickly learned that while they might give the general idea for the place, when it came to the actual execution, Remus was the man for the job. When they did try to help they would tend to slow him down. To keep some of his pride Sirius decided that he and Harry would be the promoters and the face of the arcade instead. Remus gave him a placating smile but went along with it anyways.

Sirius's main focus was Harry. He would be the one who took him to his Karate practice, they went to a few amusement parks, the park, and Sirius was teaching Harry swordsmanship. Harry didn't even know Sirius knew how to handle a sword but apparently this was something that most pureblood's were taught growing up. Since the Christmas party Sirius had taken Harry to get his wand and holster. Remus wanted to finish this year teaching him the theory believing it would help Harry learn faster when he did start learning spells. Sirius was teaching him spells though, granted they weren't necessarily the ones he would learn in Hogwarts. They were mostly for pranks but most were practical, color changing spells, levitation, and augamenti to wake someone up were a few examples. The good thing about Sirius was that he never paid attention to how advanced a spell was, he figured if Harry didn't know how difficult a spell was it would be easier to learn it.

Harry had a smile on his face when he thought about the last seven months. After the Christmas party they had shown Remus the memories. Remus was thoroughly amused when he saw them. After that he had gotten together quite a few times with both Cedric and Neville. When he had gone to Cedric's house they chased after the snitch for hours. The next time he had both boys over to his house and showed them the arcade. Neville was pretty shy at first but once they started playing all shyness and awkwardness went away and they ended up having a blast. Cedric and Neville were becoming good friends especially Neville. They wrote often and would alternate visits to each other's house. Neville even went out with Sirius and Harry on a few trips to the muggle world.

Oh and Minnie, she got quite a few bouquets along with date invites following the party. She had a talk with Sirius about it but was taking it as a joke. Harry wrote her a letter establishing that he understood she wanted to wait until he was older, he would respect that and wait. He would try and control his actions but couldn't control his heart. Nothing would change except he would make it more obvious that he did it to get a rise out of her.

Andromeda had become somewhat of a mother figure. She saw two men raising a child and figured she was needed especially since neither was big on discipline. Personally Harry thought that she was looking for something to occupy her time since Tonks was at school and Ted worked during the day but liked her around so said nothing about it. She took it upon herself to teach Harry things that she felt he should know how to do, 'even if Misty does it for him now'. She taught him how to cook a few dishes, charms to pack up his toy chest, basic cleaning spells, basics of gardening, and grooming techniques. He allowed his hair to grow out a bit so that it would be more manageable. She also said she would teach him to play guitar which she had learned from Ted. Harry already knew how to do most of these things but liked spending time with her so he just pretended it like it was all new and that he picked it up rather quickly. He was pretty excited about the guitar though.

Ted came around a few times a month but mostly spent time with Sirius and Remus. He was an easy going guy that enjoyed the guy time; poor guy lived with two girls, he probably liked the change of pace.

Tonks came around during the summer after her fifth year. She had taken an instant liking to Harry. She taught him spells and then would help him prank Remus and Sirius. She found out about McGonagall and proceeded to tease Harry mercilessly hoping to make him blush. The main thing that this did was to force Harry to be a bit more daring when messing with her. She never blushed or got flustered so he probably wasn't too good yet.

By now Harry's occlumency was pretty much developed. He had built up his barriers and now it was about keeping them up constantly so that they would get stronger. Right now he was positive that he could detect and stop an average legilimency attack but probably couldn't stop someone like Dumbledore or Snape if they forced their way in. He figured that by the time he started Hogwarts he would be.

His wandless was far better than he had hoped for. He was right when he assumed that once he got used to silently and without set movements it would be worth it in the long run. It took a couple of months to master that technique but once he had he started picking up spells rather quickly. As of now he had the first year lessons done. He was taking a slight break to go through them once again before he went to second year.

He had asked Sirius and Remus if he could learn his animagus form. He promised not to attempt it on his own but he would like to take the potion to know what his form would be. They discussed it and figured there was no harm in that, they agreed to get him the potion after everything with the arcade was settled.

He talked to Misty about the locket. He knew she would refuse to give him anything not cleared by Sirius and he wasn't skilled enough to break the charms she had in the room on his own yet. Harry told her that the locket was important but couldn't tell Sirius about it yet. The compromise was that Misty keep it safe until he had Sirius's permission to have it. Harry didn't want to cause Misty worry over it and figured he was going to tell Sirius after the battle at the ministry so it could wait until then. After he started Hogwarts he would sneak out and go about collecting the rest. He was watched to closely now.

He thought about the arcade, the big opening would be officially on August 1st, they were opening it up a day early to have Harry's birthday party . Harry sent out invitations to the Tonks, the Longbottoms, the Digorys, and McGonagall. Sirius and Remus had invited Dumbledore, Hagrid, Flitwick, and Sprout, mostly so that they could see the arcade without many students around.

The front room was going to be the area where they would and eat and mingle until it was time to move on and play. They had hired a young woman named Cynthia and a man named Robert to work throughout the week. All they really had to do was change money for tokens and handle the drink station. There were a few tables where people could relax and mingle if they wished to.

Misty had set up the front area with food and drinks, and an extra table for gifts. The first to show up was Neville and his grandmother. As the best friend he wanted to show up early to keep Harry company.

"Hey Neville, glad you could come. I'll fight you later if you want." Harry said with a smile. He could beat Neville in racing and shooting games but Neville still beat him 2 out of 3 times in the fighting games. They liked to play this together because they presented each other a challenge.

Neville smiled handed him a present and stepped aside for his grandmother.

"Mrs. Longbottom, I'm so glad you could come. Would you like something to drink?"

Mrs. Longbottom gave Harry an approving nod. She liked Harry and thought that the two boys were good for each other. She knew her grandson needed an assertive and confident friend who would bring out this side in him too, he was sheltered, she knew it was mostly her doing but was glad they were friends now. She knew Harry needed someone like Neville as well, someone who looked at Harry almost like a big brother and would be very loyal to the boy. He was supportive and would stand by through rough times she was sure were going to follow the boy. They were both going to be Lords and needed someone who understood this and could be there for each other.

"Yes please Harry, may I have some tea?"

Harry smiled, "Coming right up, Neville?"

He got them both drinks and went back to the table to chat for a while. Harry saw the professors from Hogwarts walking in; he smirked at Neville letting him know he would be right back. Neville shook his head but waved him away anyway.

"My birthday wish was fulfilled the minute you walked through that door Minnie." While kissing her hand.

The rest of the professors held in their laughter at the sight of the annoyed transfiguration teacher.

"Mr. Potter, what have I told you about your behavior and how you address me?"

"Minnie, like I say time and time and again we're amongst friends please call me Harry, and I can't control how my heart speeds up at your presence. The heart wants what it wants?" He then very blatantly looked her over as if he couldn't help himself.

A few snickers and a throat clearing brought him back to the present, he blushed a bit at being caught staring. Harry thanked his occlumency at being able to avoid showing his amusement when he saw the slight red tint to her cheeks.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Harry, may I introduce you to professor Flitwick who teaches charms, Professor Sprout who teaches herbology, and our gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid."

Harry went to Flitwick first, "Nice to meet you professor, please call me Harry,"

Flitwick had his usual jovial smile "Nice to meet you to Harry, this is fine place you and your guardians started. Oh and of course happy birthday Harry"

Harry smiled, "Thank you professor, if you're interested I'll show you how to play some of the games later."

Flitwick smiled, "I'd be delighted"

Next he greeted Professor Sprout, "Professor Sprout it's a pleasure to meet you," he looked around and yelled out for Neville, once Neville came by, "I'd like to introduce you to my best mate Neville, also the next prodigy in herbology." He nudged Neville. As they shook hands and started talking they forgot about Harry so he moved onto to Hagrid.

"Mr. Hagrid" The rest of his greeting was cut off by the shaking of his body from Hagrid's handshake. Harry gritted his teeth trying not to cry out, he was able to handle the handshakes a bit more when he was older.

"It's Hagrid, Harry, just Hagrid. Why I haven't seen ya since I dropped you off at your aunt's home." Here Harry's smile became quite forced, something that was noticed by the professors. "I could carry you in one arm back then, and look at you now a young lad. Here's your present Harry but you got to keep it somewhere warm." Hagrid handed Harry an egg.

"I bought it from one of them street vendors. It's some kind of bird most likely an eagle owl. Thought you might like to have it while it's still young."

Harry gave it a wary glance, Hagrid said he _thought _it was an owl but with Hagrid who really knew. He was going to have to get approval early on from Hogwarts to allow more than one pet. He hated to use his name but he couldn't see himself leaving either Apollo or Hedwig behind and now this new owl, he would make it the family owl instead.

"Are we allowed more than one pet at Hogwarts Minnie?"

She pursed her lips, annoyed that his attention was back on her. Harry knew that she wasn't really angry so he would keep it up until she was truly getting tired of his game. He was quite fond of her and didn't want to upset her.

"There are usually no issues as long as the pets don't become disruptive and it and you inform the staff ahead of time."

Harry nodded with a pensive look, at least an owl and a kneazle wouldn't be an issue.

He turned to the Headmaster, "How are you doing Headmaster?"

"I am doing well my boy, a little lonely when the castle is as empty as it now, but enjoying the time as well."

Harry nodded really having no idea what to say to that.

"If you want to take a seat there's food and drinks over there." There were too many to offer to bring the drinks for them. He did turn to Professor McGonagall though.

"May I get you something to drink Minnie?

"How many times have I told you to not call me that ridiculous name Mr. Potter. But yes you may get me some butterbeer."

Harry's eyes sparkled a bit in amusement but nodded anyway.

After getting her drinki he looked around and realized that the Diggorys and the Tonks where there already. He went to say hello to the Diggorys but didn't stay long since they were already eating.

Ted was talking with Sirius, Remus, Flitwick, and Kingsley. Harry wasn't aware he was invited but was happy to see him either way. He was a respectful man who you couldn't help but admire. Harry went over to where Andromeda was. She greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Happy birthday sweetie, are you going to win me a stuffed animal later?"

Harry grinned cheekily in return "For you Aunt Andy ask for moon and it's yours"

She laughed happily in return, "Ok Casanova how about you go and bring me some butterbeer and a pumpkin juice for Nymphadora."

"Coming right up" After a quick greeting with Tonks he left to go get the drinks.

After giving them their drinks he noticed everyone started to eat. By the time Harry was done there were already a few people in the arcade, earlier Sirius had passed out a bag of tokens to each guest.

When Harry walked in he saw Cedric playing a racing game with his dad, Tonks wasvplaying pac-man, and Sirius was playing ice hockey against Ted. Remus like always was in the claw game trying to win a piece of chocolate. Flitwick was staring curiously at a motorcycle racing game. Harry chuckled.

"You put the coin in, get on the bike, and then navigate by leaning to the sides to avoid crashing. It's a race so you're also trying to get to the finish line first. You wanna try?"

Flitwick looked absolutely fascinated. "Oh yes, can you get me a stool so I can get on with more ease?"

Harry went to the front and got a stool. The first few times they played Flitwick crashed horribly, but after the fourth he started picking up on it. Harry was just enjoying the moment having fun and not worrying about a thing.

After that he started wandering around until Dumbledore caught up with him,

"This is a marvelous place my boy, how did the idea come up?"

Harry shrugged "We had gone to a muggle arcade and enjoyed it. After that we asked Remus to look for a way to make muggle electronics work in a magical place. Once he figured it out we made an arcade at home. We were in there so much that we realized wizarding children would like it as well. And well here is the end result." He said with a shrug, "Have you ever played any video games?"

"Alas I have not, I've seen them but never tried one, I feared it would look odd to have someone my age playing one." Harry was positively amused, while Dumbledore said this could tell that he wanted to.

"Will you play one with me Headmaster?"

"I would love to Harry, you will have to instruct me though."

"Sure sure, which one would you prefer? There is shooting, racing, fighting, air hockey, or we can try the claw game." Harry looked him over; he knew that the headmaster had very fast reflexes. "Let's try air hockey, it's the easiest to learn and it's more about reflexes than anything else." They started walking that way.

When they got there Harry put in the token and explained the target of the game. He showed him how the puck glided on the table and how it made it go faster than normal. He hit a few to Dumbledore slowly so he could get the gist of it.

Harry looked around and realized that they had gathered quite a crowd. Whether it was curiosity of the game or to see Dumbledore play a game he didn't know or really care. He knew that the old man playing any game would be a sight to see.

It was a surprisingly suspenseful game. It started off with both gauging the other but the moment that Harry started hitting it harder all bets were off. The old man was surprisingly good, for a moment Harry thought he was being hustled. The group watching cheered on after every score, but with Sirius and Tonks cheering Harry's cheers were a bit louder. Harry won but just barely, the final score was 7 to 6. The only reason Harry believed he won was because he was familiar with the game, he didn't play knowing that the next would either be a tie or a loss.

"That was a really good game Headmaster, would you like to play something else?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "No Harry you go on ahead, I'm going to attempt to convince Minerva to play a game with me."

Harry went around playing different games with different people, he enjoyed the racing games against Tonks the best, she got so angry whenever she would crash, which honestly was quite often. It wasn't until Andromeda came by and heard Tonks saying some rather colorful words that they stopped playing. Tonks hair turned a bright red when she realized she was being scolded in front of her professors. Harry couldn't help but add fuel to the fire.

"What does a bull have anything to do with the game Aunty Andy?" She looked at him questioningly.

"Nymphadora said the game was bullsh*t?"

Harry stared at Andromeda with an innocent expression and when she turned away he turned to Tonks with his eyes sparkling madly.

Tonks was gaping at Harry finally realizing what he had done. Everyone was trying to hide their amusement at her predicament, Sirius like always was the least successful.

Harry didn't really want to get her in trouble just to mess with her so he turned to Andromeda and gave her his most potent puppy eyes.

"Aunty Andy we were about to go to the claw game to win your stuffed animal, is that ok?"

She looked at him, then at Tonks, and then back at him, finally her eyes softened and she gave him a soft smile.

"Alright sweetie go ahead, have fun." Turning to Tonks "Watch your language from now on young lady, especially in front of little Harry." With that she walked off.

Tonks turned to Harry with a playful glare. "You're lucky it's your birthday today Harry, because you're asking for it."

Harry pretended to look shocked "Why Tonks I don't know what you're talking about, I'm just a young curious boy who asked his Aunty Andy an innocent question."

Tonks couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah yeah, come on kid let's go win some prizes.

They played quite a few times before they won the first one. Harry won a lion, a penguin, a phoenix, and a polar bear.

Tonks took the polar bear before Harry could even object stating that he owed her. She took off without a second look. Harry knew that it was a fair trade and he was probably getting off easy.

Before he went to Andromeda he went outside and had someone transfigure necklaces for the stuffed animals that said Harry.

"Here you go aunt Andy, hope you like it." He said a bit self-consciously, she was slowly becoming someone he cherished and although this started off as a joke he was nervous that she wouldn't like it.

"Why this is great Harry thank you very much" she said with a smile, he smiled back and walked off.

He went to Professor McGonagall's table.

"Are you enjoying yourself Minnie?" He said with a shy smile as he sat next to her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "This arcade is interesting to say the least. A few of these games are quite entertaining. I quite enjoyed the claw game myself."

His eyebrows went up at this trying to picture the strict transfiguration teacher playing any of these games. "Did you win anything?"

Here she scowled, looking annoyed. "No I didn't, it is quite tricky."

Here is where Harry was going in for the kill. Taking on a shy and bashful look he said

"Well I won this for you, I hope you like it"

He placed the lion on the table and with a slight tint on his cheeks he walked away knowing that this would help him keep a soft spot with her.

He caught a glimpse of her and she looked a bit startled but touched. He always knew that Minnie was a softie.

For the next couple of hours everyone played while mingling, Harry was on a sugar high from some of the chocolate he ate from the claw game. Finally Remus called everybody back to the front for cakes and then presents. Harry pulled Neville with him and made their way to the front.

Once in the front he blew out the candles of his cake and started passing it out. After everyone finished eating it was time to start opening presents.

From Sirius he got a penknife,

"It's got attachment that will help you unlock any lock and undo any knot." he added in.

"This is brilliant Sirius, thank you" His eyes sparkled when he noticed the disapproving looks coming from Andromeda and Professor McGonagall to Sirius.

He got Astronomical Model, a miniature version of the stars and and planets that he could use to study with from Remus. He was iffy about it but would use it if only because it was from Remus.

Everyone raised their eyebrows when they saw he had a gift from Garuk, apparently it wasn't common to get gifts from goblins. It was an earring, a white gold, black and white star stud. There was a note attached saying that it was charmed to alert him if he was either about to eat or drink something laced with a potion or poison. Harry automatically loved it.

He showed it to Sirius and Remus giving them a pleading look to allow an ear piercing. It didn't look like it would be a problem until…

"No, absolutely not, I forbid it. Harry you are too young to wear an earring." Andromeda looked outraged that they had even considered it. Harry sent a pleading look to Sirius but Sirius was momentarily frozen.

"Please Aunt Andy, an earring is no big deal, plus it will help keep me safer." Harry put out his best puppy dog eyes, they had never failed him with her before.

Well there was always a first. She looked like she was about to relent and at the last minute stood firm.

"No Harry you are too young"

Harry had never felt himself so close to throwing a tantrum before in his life. He was about to argue some more when Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat, positively amused as always.

"Andromeda, Harry perhaps this is a discussion better left for another time"

Harry blushed crimson, he had never acted out so much unconsciously, and he was thoroughly embarrassed. It didn't help that he could hear Tonks snickering nearby.

Andromeda simply smiled at the Headmaster, "Of course Albus" and before he could stop her she took the earring away from the table and put it in her robes.

Harry looked at Sirius as if to say aren't you going do anything about it, but Sirius just shrugged and Harry knew he was on his own.

Harry started to scowl at Andromeda one last time but quickly stopped when he saw her with an eyebrow raised as if daring him to continue.

Instead he moved on to his next present from Andromeda, it was a magical camera.

"This is brilliant" Admiring the camera, "Thank you Aunt Andy, Ted"

She was right next to him so he gave her a hug and whispered thanks to her.

Tonks gave him a pair of NERF guns.

She then said "I'll get my revenge on you this way Harry."

Harry grinned mischievously. "You're on Tonks, thanks though these are wicked."

Many people looked confused until he explained what they were. Some looked curious still so he said he would show how they worked after he finished opening his presents.

Neville got him the whole Puddlemore United action figures. They were real life like and even hovered a few inches off the ground. If he could get a miniature Quidditch pitch it would a great set atop of his dresser.

"Thanks mate, these are great." Neville gave him a smile and mumbled a "you're welcome"

From Cedric he got a broom servicing kit, he nodded approvingly to this gift. Only a fellow Quidditch player could understand the importance of a proper kept broom. Cedric just smirked at his nod. He understood so it didn't require much more than a simple thank you to get the message across.

Kingsley gave him some sweets from Honeydukes.

Sprout gave him some dragon hide gloves.

Flitwick gave him a box set of _Choose Your Own Adventure_ Books. Here gave a gasp.

"This is brilliant professor, I've heard of these but never read them. How do you know them?" He asked curiously.

"Aw I like to keep up with muggle literature; I especially find science fiction quite entertaining."

They shared a smile; Harry forgot how likeable Flitwick was.

Dumbledore gave Harry a dragons wizards chess set. Once side was Chinese Fireballs and the opposing side were Norwegian Ridgebacks. It looked fierce.

He thanked the Headmaster profusely and he just smiled back saying it was nothing.

Professor McGonagall got Harry a Ferrari 360 Modena Spider Car Model. Harry just gaped at the car. He was surprised because it was an awesome car and but more because it was muggle present.

"Bloody hell, a Ferrari Spider" Harry said awed.

"Harry! Watch your language!" Harry absently nodded at Andromeda and turned questioningly to McGonagall.

She just gave him a slight smile, "I had a student who brought these to Hogwarts and built them. I asked and he explained them. Once you are done building it bring it back to me and I'll charm it to be connected to your wand. It will almost be like a remote control."

Harry had a big smile, "Thanks Professor this is brilliant" When she smiled at being called professor he realized what he had just said. "If you wanted to see me again all you had to do was ask Minnie, I'm at your beckon call." He added a wink for good measure.

She lost her smile and tried to be disapproving but anyone could see the amusement in her eyes.

People stayed and mingled for a while until they started heading home.

-oOo-

A few days later Harry decided to call on the dare Sirius owed him.

"Hey Sirius, you remember that bet we made on the Christmas party?"

Sirius was wary now, not sure what Harry was going to ask for.

"Well I know what I want." Remus was watching all this from the sidelines with curiosity. When Sirius was about to interrupt Harry continued on, "Don't worry it's not really bad. Think of it as an adventure." Harry said with a grin.

"Ok ok spit it out pup"

"I want you and Remus to sneak into Hogwarts and bring me back the Marauder's Map."

Remus cut in "How did I get brought into this?"

Harry did look apologetic, "Sorry Moony but I actually really do want that Map, my dad helped make it and I really would like it." Harry lowered his head and stared at the floor. In the other timeline he had few possessions that he treasured. He had to get it back, he wasn't sure what kind of relationship he would have with the twins and wasn't sure if they would give it to him this time.

"Besides I'm the only offspring of the Marauders, now that you guys are old it goes to me" he added cheekily.

Sirius was nodding along until the very end, "Oi, who are you calling old?" Sirius said affronted.

Both Harry and Remus laughed.

"So do you guys think you'll be able to do it?" Harry paused "Without getting caught?" Here he looked blatantly at Sirius with obvious skepticism.

Remus cut in before Sirius could say anything, "How much time do we have?"

Harry thought about it, "Whenever possible but just remember that right now the school is empty, it would be your best chance."

Remus and Sirius looked at each other having a silent conversation while Harry was just waiting for them to answer. Finally Remus looked resigned but excited at the same time, "Fine fine we'll do it."

"I have a request, it's not part of the dare or anything but when you guys do it can I see the memory?" They had been sharing memories for a while now. Mostly of their Hogwarts days but they added a few of Harry as a baby with his parents. Harry didn't have much to show them but he showed him a few of his bouts of accidental magic. They were amused.

-oOo-

That week something else of importance happened, the egg hatched. The second it started hatching Harry yelled for Sirius and Remus, they had wanted to be there since Hagrid wasn't positive of what kind of bird it was. When it popped up all three of their jaws dropped.

"Merlin, it's a bloody phoenix" Harry said in complete astonishment.

It was a white phoenix with a red stripe going from its head down to its back, ending with all its tail red. It was a tiny thing but already beautiful. It looked around and when it looked at Harry it sang a song that made Harry think of hunger.

"I think its hungry you guys, what do phoenix's eat?" Sirius and Remus looked at him curiously, but shook it off. Sirius looked lost.

Remus answered, "I know they eat plants, but I don't know which kind?"

Harry didn't know what to do so he called out mentally for Fawkes. In a burst of flames Fawkes showed up.

"Wow, this has got to be the oddest day we've had so far." Exclaimed Sirius.

Harry and Remus could only nod their heads in agreement while staring at the majestic bird. He appeared with something in its claws. He put it down and cut it into smaller pieces and pushed it to the young phoenix. Fawkes looked at Harry and gave him a piece, Harry had the distinct feeling that the bird was saying 'here learn it, I won't come over here every time.' and took off after singing a gentle trill in welcome. Harry felt as if it was both for him and the phoenix. He wondered if Fawkes knew he was not from this time.

"Thank you Fawkes I'll make sure to get plenty of these" Harry made a mental note to show it to either Misty or Neville hoping that one of them knew what kind of plant that was.

After the phoenix was sated it looked to Harry and gave a gentle trill which Harry understood mean pick me up and keep me warm. He never understood Fawkes so he wondered what this was about but didn't think much of it.

It made Harry's chest hurt to think of losing her already but didn't feel right taking a phoenix from Hagrid when he hadn't known what it was. Hagrid had a kind heart and Harry didn't want to take advantage of him. He looked at Sirius and Remus,

"We have to go visit Hagrid and tell him it was a phoenix egg. It isn't right to keep her like that." As he said it he felt his chest tighten again.

"What's the matter pup?" said a worried Remus.

"Nothing I'm just sad to give her back but Hagrid thought he was just giving us an owl."

Both men looked surprised but nodded anyway. They flooed over to the headmasters office.

"Gentlemen what can I do for" he stopped midway when he saw what was wrapped up in front of Harry's chest.

"Harry is that from the egg that Hagrid gave you?" Harry nodded looking down at the phoenix.

"It doesn't seem right to keep her when Hagrid didn't know what he was giving me."

Dumbledore studied Harry for a minute and then gave him a gentle smile and a nod. Hagrid got called up and they told him what was going on.

"Harry do you mind if I hold her for a second?" Harry nodded slowly.

As soon as the phoenix was in Hagrid's hands she let out a mournful cry, at the same time Harry felt a deep sadness and closed his eyes when he could feel tears. Hagrid quickly gave her back.

"Harry, phoenixes don't stay with whoever bought them or won them. They go to who they intend to bond to. Even if I would have kept her she would have stayed with me only until she was old enough, then she would have gone to find her bonded." Hagrid looked at Harry with such pride it surprised him.

Dumbledore was looking at the scene with a gentle smile.

"The phoenix has started the bonding process with you Harry. Your chest hurt when she was away from you, is that correct?" Harry nodded. "When the bonding process first starts she needs to stay very close to you, this usually lasts about two days. The fact that you were willing to return the phoenix to Hagrid even though it caused you pain is a testament to why the phoenix chose to bond to you."

Harry was shocked; he didn't understand why this was happening. This didn't happen last time and nothing he did should have affected this. He became anxious, thinking he had changed something vital. At the same time the phoenix let out a calming trill that relaxed him right away. It was a mixture between calm down it's all going to work out you'll see.

Dumbledore spoke up, "I still have Fawkes's old perch if you need one Harry."

Harry smiled and was about to respond when Sirius cut in "While you two get things settled Remus and I are going to take a look at the old place. Haven't set foot in this place in years it would be nice to see it again."

Harry was confused until Sirius gave him a meaningful glance and Harry remembered the Marauders Map. _Talk about a lucky shot_.

"Of course gentlemen you go right ahead, I'll give young Harry here a tour of Hogwarts."

Harry gave an enthusiastic nod to Sirius and Remus, they smiled back, and took off.

Dumbledore summoned the perch and shrunk it for Harry.

"Come along Harry; let's start in the kitchens shall we?" Harry nodded and smiled as they walked off.


	8. Chapter 8  Goals

They made their way through the castle, Dumbledore pointing things out for Harry and giving brief explanations or anecdotes. When they got to the kitchens Dumbledore asked the house elfs to pack up some of Fawkes's plant food for Harry, enough for a couple of days so that he wouldn't have to rush to find some. They also got a drink to take with them.

"I am very happy for you Harry, having a phoenix companion is a blessing, a gift you will cherish especially during difficult times." Dumbledore said with a wistful expression.

Harry smiled and looked down at the bird, "I am happy sir, and hopefully I'll be able to be a good friend to her too."

Harry was shown the great hall, the library, and a few of the classrooms. It was a short tour since they didn't know how long it was going to take Remus and Sirius to get back. As they neared the Headmaster's office they saw Sirius and Remus already waiting for them by the gargoyle. Harry was amused when he saw Sirius's face; he looked so pleased with himself, as if he had accomplished the impossible.

They said their goodbyes, and headed out. Once home they talked some more about the phoenix and Harry decided he was not going to name her until the bond was complete. He knew that their bond could range anywhere from empathy to a full telepathic link. Harry figured it would only be polite to wait so she could give an opinion on her own name.

-oOo-

The bond only took a day and a half, Harry was in his room when he felt the connection establish fully within him. The phoenix had been on in his stomach while he was reading in bed when it happened; the minute that they made eye contact he felt an intense love and adoration well up in him. Along with that he saw images in his head. The time when he first got Hedwig and when she died, the next image was of him receiving the egg. That was when he understood.

"Hedwig" his voice broke when he said this. Hedwig had been the one constant in his past life. He loved others in his past life but it didn't stop the knowledge that he felt betrayed by them at least once. Whether they were big or small deeds didn't matter, the feeling was there. Never Hedwig though, she was there whenever he needed her even if he neglected her or was dealing with his own problems.

"How?" He saw himself talking to Dumbledore in the in-between, next was him making the choice to come back. It was accompanied by a feeling of gratitude, he didn't know who had done this but he realized that this was like a thank you for his willingness to go through this again even though he might suffer for it.

Harry on his part was ecstatic, being bonded to a phoenix was an honor but for it to be Hedwig was absolutely fantastic.

-oOo-

The next few weeks progressed smoothly, he and Hedwig bonded quite nicely. It was a new experience to be able to communicate with her. Especially when she was upset about something, she made sure he got reprimanded quite thoroughly. When she was pleased or proud of him she would also let him know. Harry now understood why Dumbledore said what he did, Hedwig would fill him with warmth and love constantly making him feel treasured.

Luckily she and Apollo seemed to get along. Apollo was still young and Hedwig saw him as another to care for. Harry got the distinct feeling that Hedwig considered Harry and Apollo to be hers rather than the other way around.

She didn't necessarily spend all her time with him but a good majority of it. Whenever Harry was discussing something with others that she did not agree on she would make her opinion known. When he studied something or accomplished a spell she would trill in happiness even though she knew it wasn't his first time.

-oOo-

He had argued with Andromeda about the earring and they had finally come to a compromise. He would be able to get his ear pierced on his eleventh birthday. She was pushing for no earlier than thirteen and he was fighting for now. That was when Sirius stepped in and said that he would get it on his eleventh birthday. He said it as a fact not another suggestion, both understood. Andromeda wasn't too happy about it but didn't say anything besides stating that she would like to go as well. Harry was a little disappointed because it really did look awesome but knew that two years really wasn't asking for much.

They had also gotten Harry the animagus potion, it turned out he was a panther, a panther cub actually. Its fur was black onyx and emerald eyes that contrasted magnificently with it. Another distinguishing feature was the scar that carried over above his eye, interestingly enough it seemed to make the panther better, rather than take away from it. Harry couldn't wait to get started, now that he saw it he wanted to get it done soon.

Apparently both Remus and Sirius saw this because they told him they would help him as long as he only attempted it while one of them was supervising. They agreed two evenings a week would be dedicated to animagus training. He made sure to study the material on his own so that when he was with them it would be the practical aspect rather than theory to get it done quicker.

-oOo-

With a little less than two years left before Hogwarts he decided he needed to make a checklist of things he wanted to achieve before starting school.

1. Secure a safe house

2. Complete animagus form

3. Complete all seven years in wandless magic

4. Ally with a few more ministry families.

5. Decide what house

6. Initial friends

7. Find a potion's tutor

8. Read Hogwarts rules thoroughly

9. Get a trunk with at least one compartment warded

10. Let Sirius and Remus know about being a parselmouth

He knew that there was only so much he could do while being at home but he refused to do nothing.

The safe house was something he wanted for a worst case scenario. Hopefully it would never be needed, but he knew that Grimmauld Place would become order headquarters someday and he needed a place that had would afford more privacy. A place where they could go if things got really bad or to send someone for hiding if the need arose.

The best part would be that he could get Garuk to handle most of it. All he really had to do was make the major decisions and trust Garuk to make it happen. All this could be done through the mail with Garuk as the middle man. He would make sure to draft a letter with more detail to Garuk later.

The animagus training while useful was mostly for him. He hoped it would make his parents proud especially his dad. Also he longed to be able to spend the full moons with his guardians. He was already part of a family but he wanted to be part of the pack as well. He couldn't wait to run around in his form with them, he could imagine how exhilarating it would be to run full speed at night, going as fast as his paws would take him.

As far as his wandless abilities went he hadn't guessed he would be so far along already. His goal was to be able to perform the Hogwarts material in DADA, charms, and transfiguration before starting school. That way when he actually started classes he could focus on different or more obscure branches of magic.

Allying with other families was important because he wanted support if times got hard. The trial in his fifth year really only happened because there was no one willing to stand up for him. Sure Dumbledore showed up during the trial but it should not have gotten to that point to begin with. The ministry knew that the only person who could possibly stand up for him would be Dumbledore and he could only do so much. He was so isolated from others that he really didn't have anyone else with any kind of influence behind him.

As far as Hogwarts he would have to decide what house to go into. As an heir he could tell the hat what house he wanted to go in, that's why when he told the hat not Slytherin it went along with him. He wasn't sure what to decide but knew that he needed to think it through before the time came.

Along with his house he needed to decide who his core group of friends would be. Already he knew that Ron wouldn't be one, he was just too judgmental as a child. He saw the world in black and white and there was no such thing as a gray. Hermione on the other hand could be a bit off-putting to others. Some of her social skills where lacking in the beginning, there was no way he would not be her friend though so he figured he would play that one by ear. His core group would include Neville of course but he wasn't sure if that was going to be all or if they would add one or two more people.

There was one plan that would either be great or backfire on him badly. Harry couldn't bear another seven years with Snape again. While reading the Hogwarts rulebook he found out that a student can find an alternate tutor if he so chooses. He wanted to bring in another potions master to teach him if Snape acted the way he did last time, which he was sure was going to be the case. Sure he was a good spy and ultimately saved his life but he did that while hating Harry anyways, if there was a way to avoid him it would make both of their worlds easier.

Along the same note he wanted to know the Hogwarts rules like the back of his hand. He didn't want to be pushed around when he wasn't doing anything wrong. Along with the rules he wanted to know any loopholes that applied to heirs. The situation with Umbridge should never have gone that far, maybe he had the power to stop what she did to the rest of the school. It was bad enough that he had to use the blood quill but knowing that other students went through it too made him angry. His life had always been harder and he learned to endure it, sometimes things were going to be harder for him but if he was going to put up with it others shouldn't have to. There would be times were he wouldn't be able to stop it but when he could he would definitely try. Also when they went after McGonagall was inexcusable. They attacked a teacher in Hogwarts, a very good teacher. This was also something that he would not allow to happen, especially not to her.

He had this perception of people this time. He hated to see others suffer but if it had to be anyone he could accept it being himself, Dumbledore, or Snape. He wasn't sure why he thought this way maybe because the three of them willingly stepped into dangerous roles and accepted the risks. While others did the same he saw them as innocents. It was probably a weird way of seeing but he felt as if others had a choice whether to get involved while they didn't.

The trunk was pretty straight forward; he had things that needed to be hidden. Some were dangerous and could hurt others like the horcruxes, the rest were for his privacy or to keep his things safe like his pensive, things passed down from his parents, or his books. There was too much at risk to not take precautions.

Last but not least was his parseltongue, he still hadn't decided whether he was going to make it public knowledge or not but he didn't want to keep it a secret from his family or his closest friends. If it got out like last time then at least he would have people there for him that wouldn't shun or judge him.

-oOo-

Andromeda and he were truly developing a mother / son relationship. It seemed as if Sirius enjoyed this development. He liked that he could take care of Harry but didn't have to deal with too much with the discipline aspect. Andromeda also took care of him when he got sick, Sirius and Remus tried to help but the truth was they had no experience with it, when he had the flu they had to call Andromeda to come over. She had also come over one day and saw all three of them in the arcade, she asked how long they had been in there, when they answered three hours she got upset and set a limit for how long Harry could be in there. Apparently kids were not supposed to spend long periods watching TV and playing video games. All he had as an example was Dudley and he spent all his time in front of the TV. Naturally this didn't sit well with him; he started to complain since they had the arcade for about six months without limits but as always she didn't budge. So now he had a limit of two movies or two hour of video games a day. She even placed a charm that would let her know when he passed the time limit.

The funniest part was that she told the two adults that they should be setting a good example for him, so now all three spent limited time in there. They whined about it in the beginning but in the end it worked out, they flew more, read, Harry went over to the Neville's and helped him with his green house, and generally went out more.

It was on one of those trips that it finally happened.

They had gone to a park and decided to go and explore. By some bushes Harry saw a small snake that had to be a baby. Harry started walking up to it when Remus noticed.

"Step back Harry, don't touch it"

Harry looked back at him puzzled, he understood snakes were frightening to others but it really was a baby snake it couldn't possibly hurt him, "It's just a baby Moony, it won't hurt me"

"It probably won't but its mother probably will" By this time both Sirius and Remus were stepping closer to Harry and looking to his right.

When Harry looked he saw that there was a bigger snake getting ready to spring at him. He didn't think twice.

("I'm Sorry, I wasn't going to hurt your hatchling, she was just so beautiful I wanted to get a closer look")

Both his guardians and the snakes looked back in shock.

("You speak our language") the mother said

("Yes, I have always been able to, please don't bite any of us, we'll leave, we were just exploring and didn't know this area was already taken")

The snake appraised him, ("Very well go ahead but don't come near any of my hatchlings again")

Harry smiled, ("We won't, thank you")

He turned back and saw both men still shocked but not disgusted. He figured it was a good sign, especially from Sirius. He smiled walking toward them and leading them away.

"What was that Harry?" said Sirius

"What was what?" He brought up his most puzzled expression, "You heard her, she won't bite but we have to leave."

They didn't say anything then and followed him into the main park area. Once they were back they sat on a bench and Remus threw up a privacy charm.

"Harry, we didn't understand what the snake was saying, we heard you talking parseltongue, you sounded like the snake." Remus said a little bewildered but keeping his calm.

"Are you saying that we weren't speaking English? That's what it sounded like to me. Are you telling me I can talk to snakes like Voldemort could?" He asked sounding both terrified and disgusted.

"Don't worry pup there's nothing wrong with you, it's looked upon as evil but only because of the people associated with it. Don't think it means you're evil or anything like that. Remember you wouldn't have Hedwig if that was the case. Think of it as a gift and you choose what you do with it. We won't think any differently of you because of it ok?" Sirius said while hugging Harry, he looked at Remus and he smiled and nodded his head as well.

Later they had gone to Dumbledore to see if he knew why Harry was a parselmouth. He gave them the same explanation he gave to Harry at the end of his second year. Harry could tell that Sirius looked a bit relieved at the explanation. Harry appreciated that although Sirius was somewhat uncomfortable with the ability he put it aside for Harry's sake.

They ended up telling the Tonks and Neville. Harry said he wasn't sure if he wanted others to know but if he considered someone his friend he would tell them. He wasn't ashamed of it but knew that a lot of people where prejudiced and he didn't want to subject himself to their criticisms.

-oOo-

Remus was the one he came to for guidance, although they were closer than last time he still saw him as his teacher. Remus was always teaching him new things and he was the one Harry went to if he didn't understand something. He was a mixture between a mentor and a friend. While he lived with them and helped to raise Harry it seemed as if he liked being a teacher more and left the actual parenting roles to Sirius and Andromeda. Sirius would come to him for advice sometimes and he would give his opinion but that's as far as it would usually go.

Sirius was the one Harry came to for almost everything. It was like Sirius was the big brother who took over raising his kid brother after the parents couldn't. He took on the role and did it to the best of his ability but enjoyed having fun with him best. With Andromeda around it allowed Sirius and Harry to have this relationship rather than a complete parent and child. Sirius was his best friend and now that he knew how great Sirius was to live with he would never regret coming back.

Mrs. Weasley used to say that Sirius was irresponsible but Harry never saw it. In the beginning he seemed a bit unsure of himself but was never to proud to ask for help from others. That's what probably made the biggest difference, while Andromeda saw herself as a parental figure she never look down on Sirius. Once he caught them having a conversation about the arcade time.

Sirius never cared about it but she talked to him why children should have limits. She explained that Harry was going to be given a lot of extra things in life because of his name. He had to show him now that to everything there are limits. He didn't have to be deprived of anything but there should be moderation for it. Andromeda talked to him and explained her opinion of it but never forced it, instead of Sirius becoming defensive about it he took it for what it was as, advice. That was why he allowed it when Andromeda set some boundaries. If he would have said no, she would've listened and respected it. She might have been upset but she respected the fact that he was his guardian.

Because of how well they worked together Sirius trusted her to do what was best for Harry and stepped more into a big brother role. He was the one that showed Harry to fly, to play pranks, took him out to see things, when they went to a muggle park and saw two kids playing catch he got the gloves so that they could play together. He gave him tips on girls, tips to get out of trouble, Andromeda did most of the shopping but Sirius told him the "cool" way to put it together. Harry knew that when he would have problems he would talk to Sirius rather than trying to solve things on his own because he knew he could count on him. When Harry had gotten Hedwig Sirius was the one that took him to buy books on phoenixes and helped him learn important things about her.

-oOo-

He drafted the letter to Garuk right away. Wanting to get the process started as soon as possible. Once he got the first draft done he reread it and made the appropriate changes before sending out.

Dear Garuk,

May your gold always flow.

I trust you are doing well and find yourself in good health.

First I would like to thank you for your wonderful gift. It was very thoughtful especially for someone like me. I am anxious to wear it and explore its uses. Unfortunately I find myself with a maternal figure that deems me to "young" to wear it at this time. You can understand my frustrations.

She means well so I didn't take offence, luckily we have reached a compromise. I will be allowed to wear it when I become Lord Potter at age eleven. I made sure she understood that a lord needs to be as protected as possible. Please do not take offence if I see you and am not wearing it.

I also write because I need your assistance. I am hoping to prepare a safe house of sorts. Here are some of the requirements.

Fidelius – Once we locate an appropriate site I would like this location to be placed under fidelius as soon as possible.

Werewolf safe – As you are aware one of my guardians is a werewolf and I need a safe location in the house where he can transform and not be a danger to others living there.

Largest available – I would prefer this house to be as large as possible. I don't know how many people I will ultimately have here but I don't want to ever have to turn someone away.

Medical Room – I need a decently sized room stocked with medical supplies. I want this room to be ready to use at a moment's notice.

Potion's Room – Keep a room available to brew potions. Start stocking basic ingredients now, especially the ones with a long shelf life. Once I begin Hogwarts we'll start buying more depending on what I believe we'll need the most.

Food Supplies - I'm not sure where exactly in the wizarding world it's possible to get food with a long shelf life. If not we can send someone out to the muggle world and gather some canned foods and other food meant for long term storage.

Wards – Although it is under fidelius I want it warded. Including both offensive and defensive wards, not only for someone with the dark mark but anyone with an intention to harm any residing in the house.

I'm sure by now you have some theories on why I would be setting up a house like this, what I'm preparing for. I implore you to take such precautions as well. I fervently hope that it will be money wasted and never be necessary but I'm not willing to take that risk.

Please take a look at my properties and see which ones would be compatible. Once you do please send me a list and we can take it from there.

One more request would be if you could start looking into a small shop up for sale in Diagon Alley. We have another business venture that we're hoping to open early November. I don't know if you've heard of contacts. They're quite common in the muggle world and we're hoping to introduce them into the wizarding world.

We're only planning on opening the shop perhaps three days a week and don't need that much room since the product is quite small.

I truly appreciate your assistance with this.

With Regards,

Harry James Potter


	9. Chapter 9  Outings

-oOo-

As Halloween approached Harry convinced Remus and Sirius to take him trick or treating. They went for a Star Wars theme. Of course Remus was Chewbacca, Sirius was Darth Vader, and Harry was Yoda. It took some time to convince Neville to go with them but he finally agreed. They kept it simple with a Jedi outfit. Andromeda went along too but didn't want to dress up just to take pictures.

It was quite a bit of fun, especially it being everyone's first time. Neville was simply fascinated with all the different costumes they came across. He was especially amused when he saw a few girls dressed up as the muggle version of witches. Andromeda was a bit insulted though.

They went from house to house stocking up on candies. They went well into the evening, Sirius and Remus made sure that Harry got enough candy for the three of them.

Andromeda made sure to take a good amount of pictures throughout the night. Harry was happy to get more pictures for his room and to spend this time with everyone. They had been focusing the last couple of months on work for the contact shop and were glad to take a break right before the grand opening.

They had even spent the morning carving pumpkins. They put a preservation charm on them and a bluebell flame inside. Their house wasn't visible to muggles so there was no reason to put them outside. They decorated the inside good anyways.

They had planned to carve pumpkins, go trick or treating, and then come back and watch a scary movie while eating some candies. Neville was going to sleep over as well.

At one point they had gone into a haunted house with Remus leading the way. Neville was in between Remus and Sirius followed by Harry and then Andromeda. Harry could tell that Andromeda was a bit wary so he made sure to stay near her. Neville was the same way and Harry noticed Remus stayed near him, Sirius was enjoying the experience.

At one point a dummy dressed as a Michael Meyers popped out holding a fake knife, Neville screamed so loud that it scared Sirius back into Harry. He was shoved hard and nearly fell, luckily he was caught by Andromeda who was trying hard to hold back her amusement at seeing Neville and Sirius on the ground, especially after Sirius's girlish scream. Harry squeezed her hand in thanks and smirked at Sirius making sure he understood that this was going to be brought up again.

Before they got off the floor Andromeda made sure to snap another picture.

-oOo-

The shop opened on November 15th, they wanted to make sure and open before Christmas. It was named Clarifying Images. They were hoping for good business especially before the holidays but quickly learned that it was not the case.

As Christmas neared they realized that nobody knew what contacts where. It was going to take some time until word got around on exactly what they were selling. Luckily they had the money to allow this to happen.

The arcade though was doing well. They figured that at least for the summer they were going to need to hire some more help. Harry recommended they hire Hogwarts students that needed a summer job.

Christmas was spent skiing in Switzerland. The three of them took a vacation for two weeks, spending both Christmas and New Year's there. They had a very good time, it was a small Christmas but one they would remember.

-oOo-

After the holidays he got a response from Garuk with a list of homes and decided on one in Scotland.

When he saw the schematics he realized it was perfect. It was big enough and with a good sized basement that could be prepared for Remus. It was close enough to the wizarding world where he could still be involved if he needed to but no one knew it was there or had any idea that it was available to him.

Right away he started to figure out which wards he wanted for it and asked Garuk to find him a house elf to start cleaning the place up.

Also he had made sure to read the Hogwarts rulebook. He would probably read a few sections over again just so that he was more familiar with it but already knew of some rules that would apply to situations from last time. At least he knew there was no way he could be denied the choice of looking at alternatives teachers. Especially as a lord who believed he wasn't getting the proper education with a certain professor.

Harry had gotten into the habit of writing both Cedric and Tonks at Hogwarts. They wrote pretty regularly and Harry made sure to let them know what was going on. He mentioned how the contact shop was doing and how they were planning on hiring a few Hogwarts students during the summer to help out. Tonks said she wanted one of the positions, Harry of course knew better than to say no. They agreed that she would let the students know and they would pick out two more students on one of the Hogsmeade trips.

-oOo-

For Valentine's Day he made sure to send some chocolate to McGonagall, Andromeda, and Tonks. For McGonagall and Tonks he sent a single rose and for Andromeda he added a bouquet of stargazer lilies. Sirius was amused that he seemed to pick up a girl in a year even if it was Tonks.

Harry laughed, he was close to Tonks and wanted her to know he missed her. She really treated him as a kid brother and watched out for him at least in her own way. It was also an ongoing game to tease each other, she was helping him be less awkward around girls.

-oOo-

By June Harry had about was almost done with his animagus transformation. He only had his head left to transform and he was a bit wary to try it. He was pushing himself though because he wanted to get it done by his birthday. It wasn't looking like it would happen though, he was still hopeful but the end of summer seemed more realistic.

The safe house was warded, both the perimeter around the house and the basement, Harry also had the master bedroom warded so that only he could get in. There was a book in his room that only he had control of. Only names in the book where the ones allowed entry into the house. A name was added and then he would have to place his ring on top of it to make it official. Because of this his room had to be protected more than any other.

He had written to Slughorn to start feeling him out as a potion's tutor if the need arose. Sure there was still a little over a year to go but he wanted this to be out of the way already. If he could get a yes it would be one less thing to worry about later.

There was also the fund raising invitation he had gotten from the ministry. Apparently the ministry was having a dinner to help raise money for St. Mungo's. He didn't want to go but knew that if he didn't Sirius wouldn't go either and that would look bad. Unfortunately this was being organized by Narcissa Malfoy so he assumed what kind of families would be there. Neville explained though that since it was a fundraising event it would be all the richer families regardless of whether they were light, dark, or neutral.

They had picked which students to hire for the arcade, Sirius and Remus thought it amusing to let Harry make the decisions since it was only students and for the summer. Harry was happy when he saw that Charlie Weasley was one of the students interested. In the end it ended up being Charlie, Tonks, and another Hufflepuff hired. They would each work two days a week.

-oOo-

Within a few weeks of Charlie working he and Harry became friends, Charlie mentioned he had a few younger brothers and asked Harry if he wanted to meet them. Of course Harry said yes and they set up a day for Harry to go to dinner.

It was during this dinner that Harry learned something important. Neville was shy of course but he was very mature for his age. Neville understood that there was more to life than food and Quidditch.

When Harry flooed over that day he was automatically greeted by Charlie.

"Hey Harry, glad you could make it. Come on let me introduce you."

Harry looked to his left and saw the Weasley clan.

"Harry this is my mom and dad. Mom, Dad this is my boss Harry Potter." He said amused, grinning at the annoyed expression on Harry's face for being introduced as his boss.

Harry stepped up to greet them first shaking Mr. Weasley's hand.

"Hello Mr. Weasley, I'm delighted to meet you."

Moving on to Mrs. Weasley, he held her hand and kissed her knuckles.

"A pleasure to meet you as well Mrs. Weasley. You have a lovely home." He added with a warm smile, quite amused to see a red tint to her cheeks.

"Thank you for inviting me into your home." He took out the gifts he brought with him. He took out the gifts from his pockets a bit apprehensively and unshrunk them. To Mr. Weasley he handed a bottle of wine and a rubik's cube, to Mrs. Weasley he handed her a box of chocolates, he had two handkerchiefs embroidered with initials, one for Bill and the other for Charlie. To Percy he handed a gift certificate for the arcade. He knew it was tradition to bring gifts but wasn't sure if he overdid it but felt weird not bringing them because there was so many of them.

"I had heard you were quite fond of muggles and had a sense of humor, this is a toy that every muggle has heard of, it's strategic and hard to master it, it's quite addicting." He blushed. "At the time it seemed like a good gift idea."

He heard a few chuckles but luckily Mr. Weasley cut in.

"It's a wonderful gift Harry, not necessary but appreciated. You must show me how to operate it though." Harry smiled, grateful that the moment was over and nodded.

They made small talk while Mrs. Weasley set the table up for dinner. He also showed Mr. Weasley how to work the rubik's cube. Everyone else watched intrigued.

"When it came out it was quite the rave. Such a simple toy but it fascinated people around the world. It wasn't very common to see people who could solve it and people became a bit obsessed." Harry explained to the best of his knowledge and some guessing.

"Have you ever done it?" Asked Bill.

Harry chuckled, "No, I can get one side quite easily, two or three about eighty percent of the time, and I got four sides once. Remus is better at it than I am and Sirius doesn't have the patience."

Ron spoke up, "I bet I could do it, I should have gotten that instead of Dad."

Harry could only raise his eyebrows. He could tell that he didn't mean anything by it he just considered himself good at strategy, but it was highly inappropriate comment. Harry knew Ron so he didn't take offense but it could have been interpreted as being ungrateful for the gift he did get.

Charlie knew that Harry didn't care but Mr. Weasley didn't. Both he and Bill closed their eyes in exasperation. Before anything could be said he turned to Percy.

"If you're interested in getting some contacts let me know." He said with a smile. "I love not wearing glasses anymore." Then he got an idea. "Do you want to try them out?"

Percy looked interested, "Do you have some on you?"

Harry chuckled, "No I don't, but if I may borrow some parchment and a quill I can get some."

When they handed him these things he wrote a quick letter to Remus asking him for two pairs of contacts and some solution, once done with that he called for Hedwig through their bond. When she arrived he attached the note and said to her.

"Hedwig can you take this to Remus and wait for him to give you a package to bring back to me." Hedwig sent him a feeling of acceptance and took off.

After finishing he realized that the family was staring at him.

"You have" said Fred

"A phoenix?" finished George.

He smiled at the twins, "She was a gift from Hagrid on my ninth birthday. He gave me an egg thinking it was an owl egg. When she hatched we discovered she was a phoenix. She honored me by deciding to remain and bond with me."

"Wow" they both said.

Before anyone could ask any more questions Hedwig came back with the package and perched herself behind Harry. Harry opened the package and pulled out the contacts and solution.

"These are our basic models. We have a few extra features you can add and we're hoping to come up with some more. They will adjust to your eyes automatically, will stay lubricated, and wont break. The solution is only needed if you take them off." He looked at Percy. "Would you like me to show you how?"

He looked at his parents who nodded with a curious expression. Harry took off one of his, dropped it into the solution then put it back in his eyes slowly so that Percy could see what he did.

"Once you have it on close your eyes, it takes about two seconds to adjust."

Percy put them on, allowed them to adjust and looked around amazed.

"Father, these are amazing" Harry smiled.

"Keep both pairs, one for you and one for your father."

Mr. Weasley started to protest but Harry cut him off by putting up his hands.

"I never said for free Mr. Weasley" He looked at Charlie with a smirk to show that it was mostly a joke. Mr. Weasley looked a bit wary but curious to hear what he was going to say.

"From Percy I just want him to mention my shop and explain the contacts when someone asks him why he's not wearing glasses anymore." He shrugged. "Business is not going as well as we had hoped because wizards don't know what contacts are. We were going to pick a few students from Hogwarts give them contacts for free as long as they helped spread the word. As long as you're ok with this we've got a deal."

Percy nodded excitedly.

Harry then looked at the twins, "For your dad all I need is your word that I won't be either of you gentlemen's prank victim." He smirked and then chuckled at their indignant expression. He leaned in and whispered to them. "I've heard of you two."

Then putting on his most innocent expression trying to avoid Mrs. Weasley's eyes narrowing at him in suspicion. It didn't help that Tonks had warned Charlie of this face and he chuckled at seeing it.

"It's up to you two if your father get these contacts. He works hard for his family, never asking for anything in return I wonder if two of his sons would do this for him."

They knew they were being played, by the expressions on everyone's face they knew it too. The twins knew that they had to say yes without looking bad in front of their family.

"Allright we promise" they said dejectedly.

"Wonderful doing business with you boys." He said with a bit of a clap.

The rest of the family laughed at the twins, or at Harry he wasn't sure, as they made their way to the table.

When they were ready to eat Harry made sure to wait until Mr. Weasly started eating before he took a bite. He noticed that both Bill and Mrs. Weasley were watching him but said nothing of it. Throughout the meal he made sure to feed Hedwig a few bites, made small talk, and was absolutely repulsed by Ron's eating habits. It wasn't as if it was a Weasley thing since no one else ate that way. It was hard for him not to notice these things since he had been learning what not to do, especially sitting right across from him. He would never look down or judge someone for it but there was no way he didn't notice these things now. I guess this was a disadvantage of learning to do things a certain way.

"So do you remember anything from that night Harry?" Asked Ron.

"Ronald, don't ask such a thing!" Mrs. Weasley said scandalized.

Harry just smiled at Mrs. Weasley, "It's ok Mrs. Weasley, I'm not offended." Turning to Ron he continued. "I remember some images but they're mostly of my parent's last moments which I would rather not discuss." He made sure to say it with no malice just a kind smile.

An uncomfortable silence went through the room. Harry mentally chastised himself for not simply saying no. Hedwig trilled a soothing note that immediately dissolved the tension in the room. She sent him a feeling of reproach for berating himself.

"So have you guys been to the arcade?" Harry said hoping that now the conversation could keep flowing, luckily it did. They had all been at least once, Mr. Weasley especially excited about the games. Harry smiled at him, he really did miss them.

Once they were done with the meal Harry pulled the twins to the side to make sure they took no offense. He explained that his godfather was a bit of a prankster himself so he learned to stop him in his tracks early on to make sure you're not constantly on guard. He also offered to let them borrow the Marauder's Map until he arrived to Hogwarts.

They seemed particularly excited at this and laughed at Harry's reasoning. Harry promised to have them over at his house and they had free reign against his guardians if they wished it, in fact he encouraged it. They readily agreed and Harry could tell this was the beginning of a friendship.

When he turned to the rest of the room he saw Ron glaring at either him or the twins. Right then there he understood that Ron was jealous either because he was talking to the twins or because the twins were talking to him not Ron. Already they had gotten off on the wrong foot. He was going to try and salvage this somewhat but this reinforced his decision on his friendship with Ron. If he was jealous of his own brothers he could imagine other students.

The rest of the visit was showing him around the house and talking with everyone there. Harry showed them some more of the cube and managed to do two sides. Ron tried and after a few minutes managed one side. Harry knew that if there was anyone who could it would be Ron. Ginny never really talked. He did make plans with the twins though, to have them over or take them out somewhere.

-oOo-

When they went to the Ministry for the fundraiser they realized it was a simple dinner with a few people speaking on behalf of St. Mungo's. Sure there were a lot of upper class people that you had to behave for, but ultimately it was a rather simple event.

He managed to meet a few more people who worked in the ministry and a few parents who had students going to Hogwarts around the same time as Harry. He was introduced to Amelia Bones through Andromeda. He also met Mr and Mrs. Greengrass and was asked if it would be agreeable for her to write him. It was obviously an attempt for him to get to know their daughter thinking she would be a good match for him. He wasn't interested in marriage contracts but was hoping to at least be friends.

Harry asked Madame Bones if he thought her niece would want to go celebrate his birthday with them. He had convinced Sirius to take them to an amusement park. It seemed like it would be a good crowd, Sirius, Remus, Andromeda, Ted, Charlie, Tonks, Cedric, Fred, George, Susan, Neville, and him. Remus added in that it would be nice if he invited the other Weasley children as well. He said yes but was wary of Ginny, she was to shy right now and a bit of a groupie. Also he wasn't sure if the four adults could handle eleven kids. Oh wells they're the ones who suggested it.

Of course he mingled with the Minister, the Malfoys, and other families but they were mostly just greetings. It was a bit awkward when Andromeda and Narcissa said hello but they kept it civil. All in all it was a good evening.

-oOo-

After sending out invitations for the trip they got a response back from everyone. Tonks of course was going since her mom was too, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, said yes but apparently Mrs. Weasley didn't allow Ginny to go. Cedric and Neville were in as well. Susan also accepted so it rounded to an even ten everyone having a partner.

When Harry got word from Charlie that Ginny was crying because she wanted to go too Sirius went over and talked Mrs. Weasley into letting her go. Luckily at the same time that this happened Susan wrote Harry to ask if she could bring someone. That made it even again.

Sirius had gotten an international portkey for the states. Harry had wanted to go an amusement park with roller coasters and Six Flags was what they agreed on. They would land in the nearest wizarding town and take a couple of cabs from there.

They let everyone know that the time difference would make them off and to do their best to adjust their sleeping schedule accordingly. Pepper up potion was brought in case it became necessary. It looked like a mad house with so many kids there.

Surprisingly enough Susan ended up bringing Lavender Brown, Harry had no idea that those two were even friends. He wondered if they were always friends or if they fell apart during Hogwarts.

The day was very fun, in the beginning some of the kids were wary of getting on, Andromeda refused point blank. They started off with a bit of the smaller ones and got everyone warmed up.

Harry ended up partnered up with either Tonks, Neville, or Cedric. The four of them would alternate between each other. Charlie stuck with Percy who was a lot more relaxed than Harry remembered him. Fred and George of course stuck together. That left Ron with Ginny he didn't seem to happy about it but that's the way it ended up, especially since he wasn't too friendly to Neville and Harry refused to make Neville feel left out. Susan was an easygoing girl who Harry could definitely see himself friends with, Lavender was simply a younger version of the girl he remembered.

Ron and Percy both got a bit queasy after a ride but luckily neither of them threw up, Percy was a close call though. Everyone seemed to adapt well to the muggle world or at least took everything in stride. The day went well and even though they got home early in the morning London time everyone was ready to sleep like logs. It took all their efforts to get everyone home before they fell asleep.

-oOo-

It was probably mid September when he finally managed his transformation. For the last six months he had been working on convincing Remus and Sirius to let him join them on the full moon. After some long discussions it was Moony, Padfood, and a newly named Shadow for the full moon.

The panther cub was immediately accepted by Moony, it probably helped that he was still not fully grown when he joined. He didn't know how it would be if he would have been a full grown panther joining two dog breeds.

Along with the animagus transformation he was told that he gained a more graceful step. Remus told him that his steps became more silent and Andromeda told him that recently he glided a bit when dancing with her. It didn't help that now that he had the means he liked to keep himself well dressed and groomed. After going one lifetime in shabby clothes he liked his clothes to fit well and look nice. For a while he worried that he would become spoiled but he knew what it was like have money for longer than he knew he had it so he knew he wouldn't forget what it was like and appreciate what he had.

It was right before Halloween when Sirius decided it was time for an adventure.

It was early in the morning, the sun had probably just risen when Harry felt something shake him awake.

"Hedwig it's to early girl," He assumed it was her but when she heard him give an annoyed trill from his other side he opened his eyes.

"Merlin Sirius what are you doing up so early?" when he turned over trying to ignore Sirius he felt the blankets come off of him.

With a cheesy grin Sirius said, "I wanted to see if you wanted to go exploring as Shadow with me"

Once he saw he had Harry's interest he continued, "If Hedwig would be kind of enough to take us to Hogwarts," Hedwig looked dubious but waiting for Sirius to continue, "I could show you the whole school, plus some of our hiding spots." He stopped and looked around as if he was checking that no one else was around. Then he pulled a parchment with a drawing of Padfoot chasing aroundMcGonagall's animagus and finally catching her tail and flinging her into the lake.

Harry couldn't stop the grin that came, now finally awake. "If we can manage to put this on her desk without getting caught I'll convince Andromeda to let you pierce your ear now or to increase your arcade room time."

Harry was already up and started changing as soon as Sirius finished his sentence, then he stopped.

"Would you mind taking us Hedwig?" He received a picture of McGonagall yelling at a cowed Sirius and Harry with a feeling of amusement.

Harry laughed out loud when he realized that she would take them if only to see them get in trouble.

After that she took them straight to the Shrieking Shack. From there they turned to their animagus forms and took off for the castle. They took one of the secret passageways and ended up on the third floor. They took some time to just run around and chase each other. Making sure to exaggerate being sneaky. It was close once when they walked by a pair of prefects, they figured they should go to the Transfiguration class before more people woke.

When they got outside of the class Sirius transformed and unlocked the door. They got in and were about to stick the picture on the board when a voice behind them cut in,

"Excuse me gentlemen, may I ask what you are doing in my classroom?"

Apparently it didn't even cross their minds that she might have warded her door. They looked at each other while each were thinking on ways to get out of it. When they turned they saw a very annoyed transfiguration teacher.

"Minnie! Fancy seeing you here." Harry said cheekily.

"Accio Parchment" before he could stop it the parchment came out of Harry's hands.

Sirius jumped towards her to try and cover the drawing, quicker than they thought possible she put him in a body bind. Harry couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. He was so going to show this to Remus later.

She looked down at the drawing and became noticeably irritated, "What's the meaning of this Mr. Potter?"

He looked over at Sirius with an evil eye before he answered, "Well Sirius said that he wanted me to prove that I was willing to pull a prank on you. I didn't want to, least of all to you Minnie but he told me I would get my piercing early if I did. Well I just couldn't resist. I really am sorry Minnie, I should've said no." For good measure he added in, "I look up to him and I wanted him to be proud of me"

Her eyes softened and then hardened turning back to Sirius. When she did he made sure to make eye contact with Sirius and gave him a smirk which he quickly hid when McGonagall turned back to him.

She took off the bind of Sirius and before he could say a word she went off on him,

"I can't believe you Sirius, that you would encourage such behavior, it's bad enough that he has taken on some of your mannerisms. I thought you knew better than that Mr. Black. Make sure this never happens again."

Sirius nodded and pulled Harry out of the classroom. As soon as they stepped out they transformed, Harry looked back to see a shocked McGonagall. Well apparently this was one thing that wasn't going to remain a secret_._

When they got home Remus was waiting for them. Harry went to go get his pensieve to show Remus. In the meantime Sirius was both irritated and amused. Irritated at the fact that a ten year old pulled one over on him, amused that it was his godson who did, he couldn't help but laugh. Later they had showed both Tonks and Neville, they both teased Sirius merciless about it.

-oOo-

Magically Harry was very happy with what he achieved. He was sure that he could keep an experienced legillimens out of his mind and was able to keep his "living room" open for about thirty seconds continuously if someone was looking. He was happy that he would be able to keep his occlumency hidden for a bit longer. His wandless magic thrived, he studied up on all the spells learned through Hogwarts. Now whenever he read something new he would learn it without a wand first then with it. This would help keep him interested since he figured school was going to be a bit boring.

Talking about school he had finally decided to with Ravenclaw. There were a few pros and cons with this but ultimately figured this was his best bet. In Ravenclaw he could excel and it wouldn't be questioned as much as if he was in another house. He wasn't going to hide that he was advanced he figured he would be top of the class for DADA, Transfigurations, and Charms. That left Herbology for Neville to excel in, and Astronomy, History of Magic, and Potions for Hermoine. He was hoping she wouldn't be resentful about it. Hermoine was the best and didn't like to be anything but.

He had already talked to Slughorn and made an arrangement to have him on standby for the first term to judge how the potions teacher behaved. He was told that Snape might have a prejudice against Harry because of his father and Sirius. Sirius completely backed this story so it wasn't hard to make it legit. Slughorn jumped at the opportunity to be the personal tutor to the boy who lived. Granted Harry told him that if the situation came up it might be a group of students but Slughorn paid it no mind.


	10. Chapter 10 Finally Going

AN: Ok two things, Now that we're getting into the timeline from the books if you see anything familiar then they belong to Rowling and the Harry Potter books not me.

AN: Life got busy and updates are not going to be quick. I barely have enough time to type this up and post it. I'm going to be skipping the Beta process so I can post as soon as I have something. If there are errors try to deal with them, if there are too many let me know and I'll go back to using a beta just keep in mind that updates will be even slower than they are now.

Business at Clarifying Images slowly rose as word of mouth spread. They came to the conclusion that having a shop was a waste of money. It mainly consisted of a basic model and then you pick what extra features you wanted from a posted list. They decided that making it a mail order service would be more beneficial.

Cards could be handed out with their name on one side and the features offered in the back. They could place some in key building such as Gringotts for a small fee. Shop would close once Harry started school. Each of them would make sure to have cards on them at all times to hand out whenever they saw a potential client. Remus offered to process the orders that came in from now on.

A deal was even made with Mr. Weasley and Charlie to carry cards on them to pass out to anyone they felt might be interested. Mr. Weasley was approached because of his connections in the Ministry and Charlie because he already had a job offer in Romania and they were hoping to expand business. Once they got settled they would consider expanding to the other magical schools as well.

-oOo-

Harry focused the rest of his time reading and studying or hanging out with Sirius, Remus, Neville, Hedwig, or Apollo.

He was pleasantly surprised when Remus started joining them in more of the fun things. He had tended to keep himself a bit distant and Harry didn't quite understand the reasoning of it. It wasn't until both businesses were settled that Harry saw Remus finally relaxed.

Upon closer inspection Harry realized that while Remus loved living with them he feared becoming a burden. By working hard and assuring himself that the businesses were set up correctly it would help ensure a constant income for him. This would allow him to feel as if he was contributing to their little family rather than becoming dependent on Sirius. Of course Sirius didn't notice any of this and wouldn't mind even if he did but it was still a big issue for Remus. Harry knew what it was like to not have money and be completely dependent on others. At least for Remus it was someone who loved him but still it was not a good feeling.

With this dealt with Remus became much more relaxed. He started helping Harry prank Sirius, gave Harry tips to improve his chess game, and introduced them to bowling. Harry had heard of it but never played it before, it was very entertaining. Remus also started sparring with Harry so he could practice his karate.

Harry was grateful to have someone to practice with who wouldn't get hurt as easily as the children in his class. Unless it was close or right after the full moon Remus was quick and agile which helped Harry improve immensely.

At the end of the school year they went to watch Tonks and Charlie's graduation. Harry wished he would have had at least one year with them in school but unfortunately it was not to be.

-oOo-

Finally his Hogwarts letter arrived. Harry was excited, he had been anticipating this day for a while now. He enjoyed his time at home but at the same time he really did miss Hogwarts. He was reading through his letter with Hedwig perched on his shoulder and Apollo purring next to him.

"You guys excited about Hogwarts?"

Apollo just kept purring indifferent and Hedwig sent him an image of the owlery with a feeling of distaste followed by an image of her and Apollo with him in the dorms.

"Of course you guys will be living with me. I've already gotten permission for both of you. As long as I'm not in class you can be with me as much as you want."

He turned to Hedwig to Hedwig sending out a bit of mischief.

"You be careful of all the males around Hogwarts. A beautiful lady such as you will have many suitors, especially that Fawkes he's a sly one. Make sure to bring any of them around so I can make sure he's worthy."

He got an amused approval from both. Apollo was truly his familiar, while he would never be able to communicate with him like he did with Hedwig he did get a sense of what he was trying to say. It was mainly of emotions and by paying attention to either expressions or movements. This was how a familiar bond typically worked, phoenixes were unique.

"Do you guys want to go to Diagon Alley with us?"

Apollo just yawned and nuzzled into the sofa, Harry took that as a no. Hedwig bobbed her head with an indignant expression as if saying 'how could you ever consider leaving me behind.' Harry just chuckled and went to go find Remus and Sirius.

"What time are we leaving?" he asked them.

Remus smiled, "As soon as Andy and Tonks arrive. Tonks wanted to make sure we wait for her since she'll soon be busy with Auror training and doesn't know how much free time she'll have available from now on."

Harry wondered if Remus and Tonks would get together this time around. He doubted it; Remus had issues with her age the first time, this time he had actually seen her grow up alongside Harry. It would probably be too weird for him. Tonks didn't seem to show any kind of interest either, she saw him as one of Harry's guardians, family.

Finally both Tonks women came through the floo. Harry immediately got up to greet them and prevent Tonks from falling in the process.

"Hey Aunt Andy, are you ready to go? We've got to go to Gringotts first, then to get my ear pierced, and then to get my school supplies, Hedwig is coming with us, we really should get going."

She smiled indulgently at him, though her smile became a bit forced when he mentioned the piercing but still hugged him lovingly in greeting.

"Yes Harry, we're ready to go. Do you have your list?"

Harry nodded and was about to reply when Tonks cut in.

"Harry you better not cry or I'll make sure to go back to Hogwarts and let everyone know that the boy who lived can beat a dark lord but cries at an ear piercing." She said evilly.

"You wouldn't" Harry said indignantly, "I mean of course I won't cry I'm not a girl."

Tonks smiled mischievously, positively amused. Harry noticed Sirius had his face turned; his shoulders shaking in silent laughter. Harry loved acting this way because he absolutely enjoyed watching Sirius harry, even if it was at his expense.

As they were walking towards the floo Harry tugged on Andromeda.

"It doesn't really hurt that bad does it?"

She smiled softly at him, Harry could see the conflict in her eyes, debating whether to tell him the truth or lie and scare him out of wanting the piercing.

Making up her mind she finally said, "No Harry, it's only a small pinch and they use a numbing spell before regardless."

He smiled and hugged her in thanks.

-oOo-

Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron Harry thought about his first time at the pub. He had thought it to be a bit on the shabby side but now it warmed him to see people just sitting there and enjoying a drink in peace.

"Sirius Black! Why I expected you as soon as you were cleared."

"I know Tom, forgive me but I'm not really drinking too much these day." Sirius quickly glanced at Harry with a fond smile, but it was enough for Tom to take notice.

"Good Lord, is this – can it be - ?"

Knowing what would happen Harry cut him off.

"Yes yes, it's Nymphadora Tonks," he continued pushing Tonks in front of him, "but she would prefer if others didn't hear her name though." He said sympathetically.

Tonks had turned bright red by now and was glaring at Harry.

_Well in for a knut…._

"Now now Nymphadora, a beautiful lady such as yourself should not be turning such colors." He put an arm around her, "As her escort I must ask that you not bring any extra attention our way. She becomes so easily flustered. If you'll excuse us sir we must be going. It was a pleasure."

He led an irate Tonks outside followed by Sirius, Remus, and Andromeda who were doing all they could to stop from laughing at Tonks' expense.

"What the hell was that Harry?" asked an annoyed Tonks.

"I'm very sorry Tonks, it's just that he was about to announce I was there and I panicked. I've been waiting for today for a long time and didn't want to start the morning off like that. You were just nearest to me." He made sure to keep eye contact so she could see his honesty. "I really didn't mean to embarrass you."

Her face softened as she gave him a small smile.

"Fine fine let's get some shopping done."

-oOo-

They made their way into Gringotts and asked for Garuk; Harry loved any opportunity to practice his Gobbledegook. If a goblin spoke a bit slower Harry was able to keep up. Luckily Garuk seemed to be patient with Harry and humored him, it probably helped to have Hedwig on his shoulder, everyone respected a phoenix.

After giving the proper greeting Sirius spoke, "Garuk, Harry wishes to claim the title of Lord Potter and pick up the family ring."

Harry smiled and added in Gobbledegook, "But the best part? I'm getting my ear pierced today."

With that he pulled out the earing he had hung on a necklace. Garuk gave a toothy smile looking amused but saying nothing. He handed the Potter ring to Sirius and while everyone was looking at the ring Garuk slipped something into Harry's robes. Harry was a bit startled but saw Garuk look pointedly in Andromeda's direction.

Harry laughed silently and nodded in thanks.

He and Garuk had become friends, or at least friendlier than just an account manager and client. They both respected each other but understood that keeping it friendly with the other would be beneficial.

Sirius put the ring on Harry; he felt the ring adjust to his finger. It really wasn't a big thing, what should have been a sort of passing of the torch from father to son was not really much without his parents there.

After that they went to Madam Malkin's for robes and Flourish and Blotts to get the books he didn't have yet. He already had his potion's ingredients so there wasn't any reason to stop there. They went to get a school trunk as well. Harry was grateful he had thought to order and prepay his trunk ahead of time so that when they went in and asked for a basic trunk but got Harry's custom made one without any one being the wiser.

After that they went to a shop that did both tattoos and piercings. Harry couldn't help but go over to the tattoo designs and take a look while Sirius inquired about the piercings. When Andromeda saw him she shook her head and sighed loudly.

"Come on Harry," pulling him away, "don't be getting any ideas young man."

Harry couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him, she sounded so exasperated.

The piercing went smoothly; they did numb his ear first so he didn't feel anything but a bit of pressure.

-oOo-

Having finished quicker than expected they decided to go to the mall. They all preferred shopping for normal clothes in the muggle world, there was more of a selection.

He ended up in a novelty shop and found what he was looking for. For a while now he had been studying portkeys and runes. He came up with a way for portkeys to be connected to a central point. Something that would be on him at all times.

He wanted to give out portkeys that would work like normal word activated ones but would also be connected to him by using his blood. The idea was to have them set to his safe house using a key phrase but if he held his portkey and said 'bring me _' in parseltougue it would bring that person to him or as close to him that wards would allow.

Eventually he would tell everyone the password for their portkeys but no one would know about the other connection until it was the last resort. This would be one of their secret weapons.

In the shop there were charms that could be made either into necklaces, bracelets, or rings. Not all of them were available in the shop but they had a catalogue you could order from. He picked up a dog for Sirius, a wolf for Remus, and a cat for McGonagall. He ordered a panther for himself, a chameleon for Tonks, a lion for Neville, a badger for Cedric, a dragon for Charlie, a Gred and Forge for the twins, and a charm bracelet with a star, panther, chameleon, a baseball bat, a wolf, and a dog for Andromeda. He figured they would be all necklaces except for Andromeda's, a bracelet for McGonagall, and dog tags for the twins. He took a catalogue with him just in case he wanted to purchase more in the future.

-oOo-

They spent the next month together or tying up loose ends. It turned out that Garuk's gift was a goblin made dagger with a leg holster. Harry didn't want to risk it being taken away so he made sure to keep it hidden.

Harry made sure his trunk was properly warded since he would be storing many important items in it. He had received confirmation from Slughorn that he would be on standby for a month after school started to see if he was needed.

On one of his trips to Longbottom manor he mentioned to Madame Longbottom that he was debating with himself whether to look in his family vault to see if there were any wands in there. When she asked why he told her that he knew that there were people out there holding grudges against him that would not hesitate to hurt him. Everyone knew he would have his wand but wouldn't expect a second. With a thoughtful expression she agreed and both he and Neville ended up with a new wand as their primary and one from their families as a backup on a holster attached to their leg.

-oOo-

On the day of, Harry had his things packed and ready. Andromeda, Remus, Sirius, and he apparated to the station. They made sure his trunk was put away in a compartment with Apollo 'guarding' it, Hedwig stayed with Harry. Once they got situated they went back outside to wait for Neville and to say their goodbyes.

"You'll remember to write when you know what house you're in?"

Harry nodded, "Yes Sirius"

"Make sure to send an owl if you need anything."

Harry nodded again a bit exasperated, amused, and touched at the same time, "Yes Sirius"

"Ask Hedwig to come for me if something happens," Looking at Hedwig, "You'll let me know won't you?"

Harry and Hedwig looked at each other and Sirius could have sworn that they both rolled their eyes before turning back to him and nodding in agreement. Regardless Sirius was satisfied.

Remus and Andromeda watched in amusement letting Sirius calm his worries.

Looking around they saw Neville and his grandmother walking up to them. Mrs. Longbottom had shrunk Neville's trunk and timed it to enlarge at exactly eleven.

"Hey Neville, let's put your stuff in the compartment right away" Said Harry to Neville.

Neville grabbed his things from his grandmother before taking off with Harry.

They went and put everything away, Hedwig decided to stay in the compartment so they took out her perch so she could be comfortable.

When they walked up the group Harry chuckled when he heard Neville tell his grandmother he had lost his toad. It amazed him that even though Neville was less shy and more confident he still had retained his clumsiness and forgetfulness. This time Harry learned that these traits were inherited from his mother. Like her son she also outgrew it and became a good and brave witch.

Coming back to the present he summoned the toad. As Trevor zoomed by them Harry leaned into Neville.

"I'll make sure to teach you that spell soon."

Neville gave an appreciative smile.

Behind Harry someone spoke up, "Well hello there Harry."

Turning around he was greeted by the Weasley twins.

"Hey guys, Mrs. Weasley a pleasure seeing you."

They all made small talk while the students put their trunks and pets on the train. Harry was grateful Ron had left Scabbers in the train. He wasn't sure whether Remus would smell him or not.

"Congratulations on make prefect Percy" said Remus to Percy.

"Thank you Mr. Lupin, I am very proud" looking back at his mother, "I must go now mother, the prefects have their own compartment." He gave her a hug and took off.

Harry noted that Mrs. Weasley gave the same warnings to the twins as last time and barely held in his laughter when she attempted to wipe the dirt off of Ron's nose again.

"Hello Harry" Susan greeted him as she walked up, her aunt by her side.

"Ah two lovely women grace my sights." He said with a charming smile.

He grabbed Madame Bones' hand, "Madame a pleasure to see you outside of my dreams. A beauty such as you should not mingle with us mere mortals."

She rolled her eyes and seemed to have the same exasperated look that McGonagall wore around Harry. She glanced at Susan and noticed that she bore a slightly envious look and knew Harry had at least one admirer already.

"Charming Harry" She turned to Susan, "Let's get you situated in a compartment Susan."

Since it appeared that her trunks were shrunk already nobody offered to help. The warning whistle went off so they started saying their goodbyes. He went to Andromeda first.

"You make sure to write often Harry, study hard, and stay out of trouble."

He gave her a tight hug and smiled, "I'll miss you too Aunt Andy and don't worry I'll make sure to write often and study hard."

He made sure to go to Remus before she could comment on his response.

"Do you think you can sneak into the shack for a full moon?"

Remus exhaled, "We'll see cub. Take care Harry, we're going to miss you very much." He brought Harry into a tight hug.

"I'm going to miss you guys too. Take care of Padfoot, you know how he is." They shared a laugh at Sirius' expense.

Sirius and he just hugged there was no reason for anything more. Before they pulled away Sirius whispered, "Padfoot might want to run around with Shadow once in a while. I'll let you know."

They grinned at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Goodbye Mrs. Weasley, Ginny. Come on Neville."

-oOo-

"So you want to start going over the charm now? We won't do the actual summoning here but we can work on the wand movements and the incantation."

They spent probably half an hour practicing and making sure his pronunciation was correct. Harry knew that Neville had the technical details right, now it was about how much power was put into it.

"Once we get to Hogwarts start working on control and focus. Start with something light and close up and work your way from there." Harry said with a smile.

Neville nodded quite satisfied with his progress. Thanks to Harry he knew the theory behind most of the first year spells and an a few advanced spells.

After the cart lady came in both he and Neville went in search of the twins with their pockets full of sweets. On the way they saw Susan who was sitting with Hannah Abbott, Lavender Brown, and surprisingly Hermione.

Harry felt a pang in his chest as he saw that she was reading while the other three were talking and laughing amongst each other. He wondered whether it was her choice or if they already disliked each other.

Sitting next to Susan he asked, "Having fun ladies?"

She rolled her eyes at him but introduced the others, "Harry, Neville, you already know Lavender, but this is Hannah Abbott and Hermione Granger."

Harry smirked at the blushes that appeared on the girls as Neville and he greeted them.

Hermione couldn't contain herself much longer as she leaned forward and spoke up.

"Are you really Harry Potter?"

Harry was about to answer when he was cut off. He forgot how nervous and eager she was in the beginning.

"I know all about you of course…"

Harry interrupted before she could really get going. "Forgive me for interrupting Hermione but I just wanted to let you know that if you're basing your information off of a book then it's not a reliable source. Seeing as I've never been interviewed and I am the only who could truly tell you what happened that night I wouldn't put too much faith anywhere else."

He made sure to say it as kindly as possible so she would not feel criticized or insulted. Hermione's mouth opened and closed but she remained quiet, contemplating what Harry had said, he smiled at her and turned to Susan.

"The cart came by and Neville and I couldn't even contemplate eating one bite before making sure you lovely ladies had something sweet to eat as well."

Susan both blushed and rolled her eyes at Harry's charming grin.

"Ignoring the fact that I can smell the chocolate frog you already ate I would like some licorice wands please."

Harry turned to Hermione as Neville was already asking the other girls. Hermione looked a bit lost, probably at never really eating sweets both muggle and wizard.

"Umm…"

Harry smiled at her, "I'll get you a few so you can sample and see which ones you like."

The boys went and bought the candy, sharing the costs between them. They bought some Every Flavor Beans to challenge the Weasley twins as well. They went back to the girls' compartment and joked around for a bit before Malfoy made his entrance.

"Potter" he said with a nod in Harry's direction.

Harry frowned, "Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, you know Neville and Susan. This is Hannah Abbott, Lavender Brown, and Hermione Granger."

Malfoy sneered at Hermione and was about to make a derogatory comment when Harry interrupted, "Tread carefully Draco, you're in a compartment with the heirs to the houses of Longbottom, Bones, Abbott, and Black, as well as the new Lord Potter."

He adjusted his hands so that his ring was visible to Draco but not obvious to the others.

"Remember the words you use and who else they might offend." Draco looked at Harry closely and gave a subtle nod and turned to Susan making sure to greet her properly.

"Susan a pleasure to see you again"

He did the same with Hannah but greeted Lavender, Hermione, and Neville with a nod. While it was ok with Neville, it was a subtle insult towards Lavender and Hermione. All in all he was surprised that things were already a bit better with Malfoy and he at least hadn't been overly cruel to Hermione, well at least not yet. Draco walked away after that without another word.

Harry looked around and saw Neville, Susan, and Hannah with raised eyebrows. Lavender looked a bit insulted but content while Hermione looked like she was trying to analyze what just happened. Harry clapped his hands together.

"Well that went better than expected."

Neville, Susan, and Hannah nodded. Lavender grudgingly agreed a second later as well.

"What do you mean? What exactly happened?" asked Hermione.

All but Lavender looked a bit uncomfortable.

Harry decided to take the plunge, "I'm going to assume that you have a general idea of who Voldemort was and his views on blood status."

Hermione nodded.

"Ok so in the wizarding world there are usually three kinds of views on blood status. You have the so called light families who either don't believe themselves above muggles or at least don't discriminate against someone for being a muggle or muggle-born. The neutral families don't generally give out their views in public and tend to not draw attention to themselves therefore are usually accepted by both sides. Then there are the so called dark families who believe that muggles and muggle-born are a stain on the wizarding world. They base someone's worth on how pure your blood is."

Harry paused to evaluate Hermione to make sure she was taking in everything he was saying.

"A lot of these so called dark families supported Voldemort when he came into power and believed that the muggle-born should not be allowed into Hogwarts or into the magical world. They believed that by allowing them in the noble families would taint their bloodlines."

Harry gave a sympathetic smile in Hermione's direction when she looked appalled at what he just said.

"While they are not the majority they tend to be wealthy and influential. They are blatant in the belief of superiority over half-bloods, muggle-borns, squibs, muggles, and any with creature blood. The Malfoys are one of these families if not the most influential for the dark families. Draco was about to insult you for being a muggle-born and forgot that he would also offend the rest of us in the process, especially Neville and I. I have a muggle-born mother and the Longbottoms and Potters have been close allies for a long time. Insulting one brings upon the other for most matters."

He continued on, "Pure-bloods pride themselves on tradition, etiquette, and status. Malfoys are wealthy and influential sure, but so are the Longbottoms, Bones, Abbott, Black, and Potters. Offending an heir is offending the family. It would look very bad on the Malfoy family if their heir did not have enough sense to act civilly to five families, especially when a Lord was present. As the offended party we could seek retribution from the Malfoys and they would have to comply or risk losing face."

Hermione looked outraged, "But this is all so outdated, don't tell me you still have marriage contracts too."

At Harry's nod, Hermione exploded.

"But it's wrong to pick someone's spouse for them; you take away their free will."

Harry shook his head as he noticed the other look a bit offended.

"Don't you see what you're doing Hermione? You're judging a community based on what you believe is right or wrong. Who are you to judge? Why would a community want to accept someone who criticizes and judges something they take pride in?"

Waving his hand to the others in the compartment, "We're all from light families but we still preserve tradition and are proud to continue what our ancestors started. What community doesn't have some aspects that not everyone agrees on?"

Hermione looked abashed, especially when she saw the others in the compartment were bothered even if they were trying not to show it.

"I lived in the muggle world until I was eight years old. When I came into the wizarding world I took etiquette lessons and studied traditions, if I didn't like something I studied up on its history and found out why it's still preserved. It helped me understand and form an informed opinion, if I judge it won't be based strictly on a bias of mine. I'm only a half-blood but it was easier to be accepted because I respected and embraced the culture rather than criticize and judge."

Trying to lighten the conversation he added in with a smirk, "It also helps that I've got these dashing good looks, wouldn't you agree Susan?" Harry whispered the last part into her ear and handed her a rose he had just conjured.

When he saw a wide-eyed Hermione about to ask questions on the magic he hastily got up.

"Well now that lecture time is over we've got a set of red heads to challenge." With a bow he and Neville made their way out of the cart.

Finding the right cart they saw the twins, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, and Oliver Wood in it. Harry walked in first, back straight, chin raised high and addressed them.

"Twin #1, Twin #2, Boy with Spider, Random Boy," looking at Angelina carefully he added in, "Future Conquest"

He had to bite his cheek to stop the stupid grin threatening to form at her appalled expression. It became especially difficult when he heard the others snicker and Neville coughing to try and muffle his laughter.

"We have ventured here to challenge the Weasley twins to an Every Flavored Bean challenge. It is meant to show one's bravery, endurance, and determination."

Both twins raised their eyebrows, shared a look, and simultaneously spoke, "We're in."

Harry's smile brightened and Neville gulped.

"Splendid" looking around he nudged Neville in and took a seat next to Angelina giving her a wink in the process.

"Rules are simple gentlemen, we go around, each eating one bean until it comes back out or you quit. Last man standing wins it for their team."

"What does the winner get?" asked Fred.

This time Neville spoke up, "The opposing team comes up with their terms for the other team before we begin. It can apply to both or one person from the other team. We compromise and tweak the terms before the game officially begins."

The twins smiled mischievously and huddled together. At the same time Harry put up a silencing charm around both of them.

"What do you think our terms should be Neville?"

Neville shrugged, "Harry you know I don't have a strong stomach, if we win it will be because of you, you should come up with the terms."

"Nonsense Neville, we're a team, I'll be stronger in some things and you'll be stronger in others. We support each other, that's the way it's supposed to work. Got it?"

Neville nodded and smiled. Finally they both came out of their huddles.

"What are your terms gentlemen?"

George became the spokesman for their team, "If we win we want the map."

Harry's smile dropped instantly, "I'm sorry but that was my father's and I'm not willing to ever risk it. I can let you borrow it or ask Remus to give you pointers so you can make one of your own. But that's as far as I'll go when it comes to the map."

The twins huddled again, "Ok, we rather learn how to make our own, if we learn how to do it then we can work together to make a map of somewhere else to if we want to."

Harry wondered why it never occurred to him to make one of his safe house. Harry and Neville nodded, these terms were acceptable to them.

"For us either Neville becomes off limits to pranking as well or you convince this lovely lady to become my girlfriend, or at least permit me to court her until at least the holidays. Then she may choose to continue or to go her own way."

At that moment everyone turned to Angelina who turned a wonderful shade of red.

"Don't even think about involving me in this little game you all have going on." She said glaring that the twins for even contemplating asking her.

They shrugged, "I guess its Neville's immunity then."

Harry sighed loudly and turned to Angelina placing his hands over his heart dramatically.

"Alas it is not meant to be at this time. Please know that I will wait until you are ready, the wait is but a small price to pay for a lady as stunning as you are."

Not waiting for a response he turned to the twins and conjured a bucket in between them.

"Just in case, shall we get started?"

_20 minutes later…._

They had played about fifteen rounds before Fred got a vomit flavored one and threw up. Seeing this Neville turned green. Harry knew that Neville was not going to last much longer regardless of whatever flavor came up.

George was looking at Neville and saw the same thing; he smirked at Harry thinking that he was definitely going to win it now.

Neville got a milk flavored one and not a second after swallowing it came back out along with something else best not described. He didn't even have a chance to reach for the bucket that was still being held by Fred causing his vomit to land on George's lap. The whole compartment was completely disgusted and now on the verge of throwing up as well.

George gagged a bit which was the last straw for Angelina who ended up throwing up on the floor with some of it landing on Harry's shoes.

Oliver and Lee were closest to the window and had raised their feet right before so they didn't get hit. Harry looked around at all the sick people and then at George.

"Draw?" he said making the extra effort to not breathe through his nose.

George nodded eagerly, with that Harry cast a quick cleaning charm on Neville and himself while the rest of them cleaned themselves off. A few more charms were done on the floor and part of the seats. Windows were opened hoping to dispel some of the smell.

"Misty" he called out.

With a pop Misty appeared and scrunched up her nose at the smell, it was fading but still noticeable.

Harry brought out his most innocent smile, "Could you please bring six waters with a few lime slices in it? Oh and something that can help with the smell?"

Misty shook her head, "What have you been doing Master Harry?"

Everyone looked a bit embarrassed but smiled anyways, "We played a game we thought we could handle but apparently our stomachs couldn't."

She popped away and not a minute later she was back with six dinks and a few lemon scented candles. They each took the drinks gratefully and quickly drank them. Color slowly returning to their skin and the nausea finally passed.

"Never again, never again" Neville mumbled.

After a few minutes they all started getting back to normal, they chatted for a bit longer until Harry and Neville went back to their compartment. The rest of the trip was spent either reading or playing Scrabble. Remus had charmed it so that the tiles would stick to the board like magnets until the game was over.

When they realized that they were getting closer to the school they put on their robes. Harry and Neville both making sure their hair was decent and their robes were presentable. They made sure both Trevor and Apollo were safely in their cages while Hedwig landed on his shoulder.

When he saw Neville getting nervous he spoke up.

"Calm down Neville, you've studied; you already know some students, and a lot of the professors. There is no need to be nervous."

"What if we're not in the same house?" Neville asked quietly.

Harry shrugged, "Then we're in different houses, we can tell each other what the other house is like. We'll still be best mates, we'll still have a few classes together, we can hang out or study together, and we can eat together alternating tables." He assured him.

This seemed to calm him. They've been there for each other a while now that it would be an adjustment to be separated, especially for Neville. Harry promised himself that no matter how busy things got he would always be there for Neville.

When the train stopped they headed towards Hagrid. Harry was surprised to see not only was Neville with him but Susan, Hannah, Lavender, Hermione, and Ron as well.

While Harry was prepared for the walk this time he spent most of the walk helping a stumbling Neville and Hannah. Susan stumbled as well but she was right behind Harry and caught herself on him. An involuntary smile came onto his face when he saw the castle like this again.

"No more than four to a boat!" Harry heard Hagrid shout.

"Neville, how about you, Ron, Lavender, and Hermione go in one boat and Susan, Hannah, and I will follow in another? We'll meet on the other side." Asked Harry

Neville shrugged, "Sure"

They got situated and made their way to the school.


	11. Up for adoption

Sorry guys I didn't think I would be doing this but I've barely had time to work on this and now I'm starting school so I know I won't be able to keep up with this. If someone wants to take this please feel free to do so I would love to see where you go with this. As long as you keep the title and state that you're adopting it from me so others can find it if need be or just post that you'll be finishing the story under the reviews so people can follow. I'm not really sure the processes of handing off a story so I'm just going this route. Again sorry, if I ever write again I'll make sure to write well ahead so that this doesn't happen again. Live and learn I guess.


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